


The Street Lights that Guide You Home

by yamarik



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Insecurity, Major Character Injury, Nerdiness, Potential Triggers, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-04-22 12:49:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 57,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14308983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamarik/pseuds/yamarik
Summary: Keith is in danger, and needs help to get to Marmora.Lance, Pidge, and Hunk are bodyguards at Wimbledon-Smythe's Security Services who are around one disaster short of getting kicked to the curb.For reasons of his own that have nothing to do with Keith's cute butt, Lance convinces Pidge and Hunk that Keith is the client to turn their lives around. All they have to do is go behind their boss's back, betray the elite dad-like bodyguard who was recently added to their team, convince the client that they are competent despite their youth and past failures, and evade the most dangerous gang around. Oh, and not kill each other over petty squabbles regarding music choices. They should be perfectly fine.TLDR: An alternate universe where the paladins end up on a rather fluffy high-stakes road trip.





	1. I Got Trouble in My Town

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: While this fic is mostly light-hearted and fluffy, shit gets real, and there are some sensitive topics. In particular, there is some discussion of terroristic events, PTSD, and homophobia that could possibly be harmful to some. Further warnings will appear on chapters relevant to the aforementioned topics, but please be careful reading.  
> Secondly, a huge and long overdue shout-out to Omness, who is my go-to idea-bouncer and helps me work out details, encourages me whenever I get whiny while writing things, beta-reads for me and helps me proof and edit. Basically, Omness is there for every step except the actual writing. Thank you friend, you are awesome.

“Still, who knew spaghetti could explode like that?” They were headed back to the home office of their agency when Pidge asked the thousand-dollar question. It was a beautiful spring day, the kind that would be perfect for their current trek if it weren’t so incongruous to the current mood looming over the four of them. 

No one answered. Coming from Hunk, the silence wasn’t surprising, since Hunk was currently not talking to them based on the fact that they had managed to screw up spaghetti. It was like the most basic food ever, and yet they’d managed to turn it into a disaster. Coming from Shiro it was also pretty normal, since Shiro wasn’t quite so used to getting abruptly dismissed by clients as the rest of them, and took it badly each time. Poor guy had it rough, working with them. But Lance’s silence was unusual. Usually around this time, he’d be griping about something or other- the client’s attitude, the ridicule that awaited them when they returned, the way he had been prevented from chasing after some person he’d seen in passing and just had to get their number, those were all common complaints. And today he had more ammunition than usual (not literal ammunition, though he did have some of that too), given that their client, a high-maintenance socialite, had hired them to protect her beloved pet parrot- correction, macaw, Alberto Brightwings was a MACAW, not some twittering parrot (an actual quote from the client that had earned eye rolls from all but Shiro, who had been too flustered trying to undo the damage he’d inadvertently caused by calling the bird a parrot). The parrot (MACAW!) had turned out to be a sass-mouthed little turd of a bird, and had seemed particularly fond of squawking insults at Lance. Not only that, but when it had decided to take wing and try and fly out the window, Lance had been the one who had to wrangle the bird, and he’d gotten clawed and bitten as a result. And then the bird’s owner had chewed him out for handling her beloved pet too roughly. 

All in all, the day had been a disaster. 

They’d all expected to get fired. Well, maybe Shiro hadn’t, but the others all suspected he was beginning to catch on to the trend. They had the skills, sure, but they just couldn’t seem to do things right. Half the time Lance was running off and abandoning clients because of some hot chick or handsome dude that he was instantly in love with, and when he wasn’t Pidge was off dissecting the client’s computer and rebuilding it with a guarantee that it would be at least twice as fast, but more like three times really, and if the two of them could keep things under control then there was a good chance Hunk was going to forget about his duties to check out a really nice car or to quick go buy some of that schnitzel he’d smelled because the scent had been killing him and it was only a block away, not even that far, really… Yeah, their team had some issues. Even Shiro wasn’t enough to balance them out. 

But really, who knew being hired as bodyguards to a bird could be so difficult? Or humiliating. 

They’d actually managed pretty well for the first hour. Before heading out, the owner had informed them that the bird liked being read to, so Pidge did that. There was special food for the bird to eat, so Hunk took care of preparing that, which was good since there were some highly exacting instructions that only Hunk would have been able to follow to the letter. Shiro and Lance had maintained the perimeter, and all had been well. 

And then it had been lunch time for them. It was Hunk’s turn to do a perimeter check, so he’d gone off to do his rounds, and left the three of them to make the spaghetti, since it was a simple dish that anyone could make. 

As it turned out, anyone did not include Shiro, Pidge, or Lance. When searching for a pot to cook it in, they found instead, a pressure cooker. But none of them knew what it was, so they just assumed it was a normal pot with a fancy lid. 

But things might still have been salvageable at that point. As Hunk had informed them in his lecture about pressure cookers and how to use them that had covered the beginning of their journey back to the office, it was perfectly possible to make spaghetti in a pressure cooker. Why it hadn’t worked for them was because they had no idea what they were doing, and also the bird had decided it no longer liked sitting on Shiro’s shoulder and had tried to fly out the window, dumping a load on the back of Shiro’s shirt as it took off. 

After that things had gotten a little chaotic. Pidge had tried to wipe off the back of Shiro’s uniform, but being the shorty that she was, and Shiro being the comparative giant that he was, it hadn’t worked all that well. Lance had gone to catch the bird, and that’s when it started insulting him. In Spanish no less. The rest of them didn’t know Spanish, but Lance did, and judging by his indignance and venomous responses, the bird had been saying some pretty rude things. The owner had returned in time to see Lance trying to deposit the bird on its perch and had freaked out about how he was treating her dear prince macaw, and then Hunk had returned and heard the squealing pressure cooker, and had been juuuuuuuust a second too late to stop the pressure cooker from exploding. 

So yeah, they’d been fired. And now they were trudging back to the office with the client’s complaints and a bill for a replacement pressure cooker and the promise of another bill for the therapy session the macaw was going to be taken to since he was clearly traumatized from the experience. Yeah right. The bird had seemed perfectly fine, even uttering one last insult at Lance as the four of them were seen out. 

And then just when the silence was getting really long, Lance did speak up. 

“Coran’s not going to give us another chance this time, is he?” Lance asked. His tone was lifeless, and since Lance was usually such a vibrant person, that was mildly terrifying. 

“No, I’m sure he’ll understand,” Shiro said, almost pleaded really. He hadn’t been part of the team all that long, but he’d grown to really care about them all. 

“Shiro, he assigned us to a job looking after a freaking bird. If we can’t even manage that, then there really is no hope for us. It’s like how some of the other guards abbreviate our team: team HoPeLeSs.” 

“Huh, I haven’t heard that one before,” Pidge said. 

“Lance, come on,” Hunk soothed. “If Coran hasn’t fired us yet, he’s hardly likely to do it now.” 

“He won’t have to. Allura will.” Lance had a point there. Part of the reason they’d managed to hold onto their positions at Wimbledon-Smythe’s was thanks to prodigious usage of puppy eyes. Who could deny Pidge’s round face, Hunk’s big eyes, and Lance’s pouty lips when all used together? Not Coran, that’s for sure. But Coran’s personal assistant Allura? She could look them each dead in the eye and tell them no without a second thought. 

“Coran’s not going to get rid of you guys,” Shiro insisted. “You all have skills, and he knows it. And one of our best success stories is thanks to you guys. We’ve gotten so many clients who come in stating that they were referred to us by the Balmera’s. And I know Shay still sends you all cards every year.” 

“But since then we’ve had how many failures, and cost Coran how much money?” Lance protested. 

“He’s an eccentric billionaire. He can afford a few losses. He sees potential in you three, and that’s why he assigned me to this team. You just need a little help keeping your heads in the game, that’s all.” 

“Yeah, except we’ve done just as poorly since you joined our team, Shiro,” Pidge said. “Instead of you bringing us up, we’re dragging you down. I would love to disagree with Lance on this one, but he’s right. We’re a lost cause. LauPHable, as some of the other teams say.” 

“Wait, they call us that?” Shiro asked. Of course Shiro didn’t know what other people called them. No one talked bad about anyone around Shiro. He had this frown that made you feel like the worst person in the history of ever, and it always came out if he heard you talking smack about anyone. 

“Oh yeah. And PHaiL, and HeLP, as in ‘help, our bodyguards are incompetent’, and PHLee, like ‘flee for you life rather than put it in the hands of these guys’,” Hunk said. “They typically don’t include you in the acronyms. HoPeLeSs has actually been around since before you joined us, and it actually gets used less because people don’t want to insult you.” 

“That’s… Wow. Maybe I should talk to them,” Shiro said, that disappointed frown beginning to appear. 

“Don’t. It’s not worth it. We’ll be gone soon anyway,” Lance sighed. 

“I’m telling you, it will be alright.” 

The four of them reached the building and headed up the stairs. They reached the floor of their office, but even before they got to the door it flew open and Allura came out. 

“I don’t believe it, I simply don’t BELIEVE it!” She exclaimed. Uh-oh. Here came one of her rants. “Mistreatment of an animal, destruction of personal property, psychological terror, vandalism- I just got off the phone with your client and this was all part of what she had to say about your tenure with her! You were only there a few hours! How do you miscreants even manage this?” 

“Allura, please. Calm down, I can explain,” Shiro began, but Allura wasn’t having any of it. She never did. 

“No, you can NOT explain because I absolutely refuse to listen. The four of you are a disgrace, yes all four since you were supposed to be taking charge of them, Shiro. Not aiding and abetting them in their endeavors to create chaos!” 

A small booming sound came from inside the main office, followed by the sound of a door being flung open and much sneezing and coughing. 

“Allura,” Coran’s voice called between the sneezing and coughing. “Allura!” 

“What now?” Allura grumbled, rolling her eyes. She turned on her heel, took a step, then turned back to face them, pointing two fingers at her eyes and then at them. In other words “Don’t go anywhere yet. I have more to say and if I have to track you down, it won’t be pretty.” They knew how things worked by now. 

They followed Allura into the reception area of their office suite, and immediately threw hands up to cover their noses and mouths as the smell of pepper was thick in the air. Coran was just outside the door to his personal office, bent double as he coughed and sneezed, and with reddened eyes streaming tears. Allura was at his side, closing the office door. 

“Coran, what on Earth happened?” Allura asked tiredly. With their boss, one always had to ask, because one could never be sure. 

“Pepper bomb. Experimental. Matt- but it- quite effective,” Coran choked from between all his adverse effects. Apparently Matt, Pidge’s inventor brother, had developed some kind of pepper bomb and there had been some sort of mishap with it in Coran’s office. 

“Oh dear. That will be such a mess to clean up, especially in such a small enclosed space. I’ll get someone on it. In the meantime, _they’re_ back. Again.” Allura’s nose wrinkled in annoyance as she spoke of their team. Coran looked up, trying to blink away some of his tears so as to be able to recognize who was standing there. As if it wasn’t patently obvious based on Allura’s disgusted tone. No other team of bodyguards ever seemed to manage such disgust from her. 

“Oh. Hello. Back so soon?” Coran asked, smiling weakly. 

“Co- _ran_ ,” Allura groaned. But it seemed Coran hadn’t given up on them just yet. Though who knew how long that would last? 

“Why don’t you head to the gym and we’ll see about finding you another job?” Coran wheezed, and they all nodded. 

“Thanks Coran,” Shiro said. Allura rolled her eyes, but she waited until they went through the door to the gym before voicing her opinions about giving them another chance. Sometimes it was a really good thing that Allura was professional to a fault. 

In the gym, however, more misery awaited them. Shiro split off to go change his shirt because who wanted to walk around in a shirt that had been shat on by a freaking parrot, and the moment he was safely out of hearing the taunting began. 

“Weeeeeell, if it isn’t our favorite little ornithologists,” someone drawled. “Done birdwatching already?” 

“Oh, you know how it is. They have to be early birds. You know, get fired bright and early so that their clients have time to find real bodyguards before they run into actual trouble.” 

Lance’s hands were clenched into fists, but Hunk had already wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him from launching himself at their tormentors. Unfortunately, this left Pidge free to do the same if the notion took her. It was hard to tell with Pidge. Sometimes she was unfazeable, but other times she was a tiny holy terror, ready to wreak havoc and pummel everyone and everything under the sun. And sometimes… 

“So, Gyrgan, tell me. How does your client feel about you revealing their personal information while drunk?” Pidge asked sweetly. Their tormentors paled. They’d forgotten Pidge was the queen of blackmail. A wise person was always careful to keep her on their side. 

“I, uh-” Pidge’s unfortunate victim stammered. Pidge’s smile was pure sugar, like white chocolate and cotton candy had a baby. Suddenly everyone had very important business to attend to. 

“Thanks, Pidge. I’m gonna go to the first aid station and see what that bird’s damage to me was,” Lance said. 

“Worse than you did to it, that’s for sure,” Pidge told him. “You’re bleeding from multiple lesions.” 

“Can’t you say cuts like a normal person?” 

“No. People might actually mistake me for a normal person then.” 

“Trust me, they’d never do that.” Lance rolled his eyes for effect. Pidge puffed up proudly like he’d just given her a compliment. To her, it probably was. 

“Well, if we have the time, which we totally do, since, like, it’s probably gonna take days for them to find us a new job, we might as well go do some work on our baby,” Hunk said. He and Pidge had a drone they were working on. Hunk called it their baby, Pidge called it Rover, Lance called it their science project. Hunk had put together it’s body and Pidge had done the coding, and it was pretty much complete but the two of them were perfectionists and would never be satisfied. “I think we could make the arm movements a little more fluid if we did a bit more work.” 

They split off their separate ways. It would be a long and boring wait for their next assignment. 

* * *

He was almost there. 

Just one more block, down this dingy alleyway that smelled of old socks and fermenting vegetables, past a bunch of seedy-looking back doors that could easily contain his death. Keith may have been almost there, but he still had to be careful. He couldn’t count on having a next breath until he reached the agency. 

Steeling himself, Keith crept forward, all senses on high alert. He prayed that his parents’ skills as detectives were instinctive, and would get him there alive. He’d had a head start, but the Overlord’s thugs were everywhere, and once word that the Overlord wanted him found, he’d never survive on his own. Even if he reached the agency, he still might not survive. 

Keith edged past one final dumpster, and then the alley cleared up, and he was just about there. He just needed to turn a corner and travel about 500 feet to the entrance of the building, go up the stairs to the fourth floor, and there in the back corner would be the entrance to the office of Wimbledon-Smythe’s. Unfortunately, that 500 feet was the most likely to get him in trouble. 

After several deep breaths, Keith darted out onto the main street, joining the flow of people going about their lives. No one here looked like they were Galra, but that didn’t mean they weren’t. He kept his head down and his shoulders up, hoping he didn’t look too obvious as the distance to the door he needed narrowed, and narrowed, and- 

Oh good god above, the door opened. Keith almost dove for cover, but saints be praised, false alarm, it was just a little old lady exiting the building. Keith reached the door and held it as she toddled out, and she smiled at him. He nodded back, unable to smile without looking constipated at the moment. Or ever, if photos were anything to go by. His mom always said he had such a beautiful smile, but every time he saw a picture of himself he looked like he was in pain, or ready to commit a murder, or half-insane. The lady got out of the way and Keith entered the building, placing a hand over his pounding heart as he headed for the stairs. 

Four flights later, Keith stood in front of that fateful door. Safety. Or as safe as he was going to get until he reached the Blade. Keith straightened his jacket, trying to look like he hadn’t just trekked halfway across the city on foot, gone through several back alleys and two maintenance tunnels, and dodged into unplanned hiding spots on six occasions. He’d had people attempt to pick his pocket three times, had gotten offered drugs eight times, and had narrowly avoided a fight when he’d interrupted a deal in progress, causing the customer to scurry away without paying. All that would have been for naught if he didn’t go through this door. 

So he did. He pushed the door open, and found a neat reception room. He’d been here once before, and so he knew that one of the two doors on the opposite wall led to the office of one Coran H. Wimbledon-Smythe, head of Wimbledon-Smythe’s Security Services, and the other led to a large gymnasium with several smaller rooms off to the sides for storage, individual practice, specified training, and relaxation. 

No one was at the reception desk, so Keith headed for the door to Coran’s office. He didn’t want to interrupt anything, but this was an urgent matter. He’d only taken two steps, however, when the other door banged open, and Coran himself appeared. 

“Keith! How are you my boy. Don’t want to be going into my office right now, there was an unfortunate incident with a sneeze bomb earlier, and there’s still pepper floating around. Have to get that cleaned up, won’t we? Now what can I do for you, lad?” 

Keith had only met Coran once before. Apparently Coran and his parents were well acquainted, something to do with his parents being detectives and Coran’s company training bodyguards and security guards, and providing security consultations. Keith’s parents didn’t like to involve him in their work if they could help it, but one particular afternoon Keith’s mom had left him in Coran’s care while she and his dad went to do something for work that was particularly dangerous. Keith still didn’t know the details of that day, since his parents had been adamant about keeping work and personal matters separate. No work discussions at home and no home discussions at work. The exception, apparently, was telling their colleagues about their son, since more than once Keith had gone out with one of his parents and run into someone they knew and heard the line “So this is the famous Keith! It’s so good to meet you, son, your parents talk about you all the time.” 

“Coran, I need a bodyguard,” Keith said. 

“Oh?” Coran asked. 

“The Overlord came after my parents.” 

“Oh,” Coran’s face paled, and his expression fell from its usual grin, sorrow pulling all his features downward. “You’d better come to my temporary office then.” Coran led the way through the gym to one of the break rooms on the side where a coffee table had been turned into a makeshift desk, and Coran’s personal assistant Allura sat on a couch with a laptop in her lap, a tablet at her side, and a cell phone in front of her. Keith greeted her nervously. Allura was intimidating. She may have been a personal assistant in title, but Keith was reasonably sure she was also Coran’s personal bodyguard, and could probably wipe the floor with everyone else who worked here, no matter how tough they all were. 

“Unusual to see you here,” Allura remarked. She knew what Keith’s family was like. 

“The Overlord, apparently,” Coran said. Allura’s reaction was immediate. She snapped the laptop shut, and then reached over and turned off the phone and the tablet. When the final screen went dark, she nodded. 

“Do you think he’ll come after you?” Coran asked. 

“Of course he will. He works like those emperors that will kill off everyone within seven generations of a person who upset them.” 

“Keith, I’ll do my best, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to protect you.” Coran looked even sadder as he said this. 

“You don’t have to. I just need someone to get me to Marmora. My parents have some contacts there, people who have been working to take down the Overlord for a long time now. They can keep me safe. I just need to get to Marmora, Coran. One plane flight, that’s it.” 

“A plane’s no good,” Allura said. “The Overlord has spies at all the airports. You’d be pulled aside for a random search going through security, or cornered in a bathroom, or he might even go as far as to order the rerouting of whatever flight you took. Whatever method, you’d end up getting caught.” 

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just give up?” 

“Allura didn’t say that,” Coran said quickly. “She just meant that it might take a little longer. You’ll have to go by car. Allura, you know who we’ll need to call, so why don’t you get right on that? In the meantime, I’ll start pulling the strings to put together the best we have to offer. I’m not going to let the son of my dear friends get hurt. We’ll get you to Marmora in one piece, whatever it takes.” Allura was out the door before Coran even finished speaking. 

“Thank you, Coran,” Keith said. There were tears in his eyes, and he choked a little. He felt so weepy all of a sudden, what with all that had happened. 

Coran patted Keith’s shoulder, and then followed Allura out. Keith rested his head on the back of the couch, feeling tired. He thought about taking a nap, but he knew he’d never manage it under the current circumstances. He doubted he’d be sleeping much at all until they reached Marmora. They’d probably have him hiding in the back of some delivery truck, pretending to be cargo. It would be miserable. 

But at least he would be alive and on his way to safety. 

* * *

He hadn’t needed any stitches, but Lance had used up an entire box of band-aids and nearly half a roll of gauze just to bandage all the scratches he had from that stupid parrot. That stupid parrot that had been ballsy enough to call HIM stupid. That macaw was the bird-brain, not him! 

He was on his way to the shooting range for a bit of stress relief when he saw him. A boy, roughly his age, a bit on the short side with dark hair and pale skin and a hunted expression. And Lance, Pidge, and Hunk’s new client, though only Lance knew it so far. The boy was following Coran, and when they went into one of the break rooms, Lance moseyed on over all casual like and did a tidy little bit of shameless eavesdropping. 

“You don’t have to. I just need someone to get me to Marmora,” Lance heard someone say. Almost definitely the new client. Lance smiled. So far so good and- oh sweet crackers and cheese, the Overlord was apparently after this guy. Lance wasn’t sure he and Pidge and Hunk could handle protecting someone from the Overlord. For that matter, he wasn’t sure that anyone could. BUT… Lance was never one to quit without trying. 

Allura pointed out that planes were a no-go, and Coran stated that the client would have to go by car, and Lance grinned. He happened to be a very good driver. Even if he had failed his driver’s test three times before he finally got his license, but that test was totally rigged. And did you ever see Pidge or Hunk driving? Did you? No. Why? Because Lance was the best driver, that’s why. Also Pidge had a hard time being able to both reach the pedals and see over the dashboard in most cars, and Hunk got car sick so much that he needed to be a passenger because it’s a bit hard to steer and hurl at the same time, but those were unimportant little details that simply distracted from the fact that Lance was the best driver, end of story, period. 

And then Allura and Coran both left the room, and when they did Lance was ten feet away and putting on some gloves to go a round with the punching bag, but as soon as they were past the gloves were off and he was off to go find Hunk and Pidge. He probably didn’t have a whole lot of time to sell them on this. 

Hunk and Pidge were exactly where they’d said they’d be, which was great. He burst into their little workroom, peered around to make sure no one else was around to hear him, and then banged on the wall for dramatic effect since his caution had ruined his grand entrance. 

“Guys. I’ve just found our next client, and we have to go, right now, and take him to Marmora.” 

“Marmora? Why?” Hunk asked. 

“Because that’s where he’s headed, and we’re gonna get him there. Now come on.” 

“But Lance, we’re in the middle of something!” Hunk whined. 

“Oh Hunk, can’t you see the signs?” Pidge said, shaking her head. “Let me guess, Lance. He’s tall, dark, and handsome?” 

“Pidge, Lance said just last week that with Shiro around, no one else can ever be described as tall, dark, and handsome.” 

“Guys, please! And no to the tall, but yes to the dark and handsome. He’s got this moody and broody thing going for him, and while that’s usually not my type I swear to God he actually manages to make it look sexy. Like damn, I might need to start scoping out emo stores some more, because apparently I have been missing out.” 

“Riiiiiight. Well. I’m like 99% sure that Coran’s not about to give us any job more intense than feeding his goldfish, and I’m not sure he’ll even trust us to do that, so how are we supposed to get this job?” Pidge had a smug look, clearly thinking that she had won and could get back to her dumb robotics. 

“The client is alone right now. We go in, we tell him Coran sent us, we take him and we blitz. Simple.” 

“Too simple.” Pidge shook her head. “Coran will call him and straighten the bill in five minutes.” 

“So we have him turn off his phone. I’m sure we can come up with some sort of reason for it.” Some sort of reason involving the Overlord, but Lance wasn’t about to drop that bombshell on Hunk and Pidge yet. Not until it was too late to turn back. 

“And then Coran calls us.” 

“We also turn off our phones.” 

“And Shiro?” 

“Guys. This is our big chance. We go, we drive this guy to Marmora, we prove that we can do things right. Without Shiro. Otherwise people will just say that it only happened thanks to him. We’ll show them that we are independent and competent in one fell swoop. We’ve got this.” 

“Why do I get the feeling that you will do this solo if we don’t go with you?” Hunk asked before Pidge could supply further argument. 

“Because I will. He’s that hot.” 

“He has a nice ass, doesn’t he?” 

“You know what catches my eye. But I could hardly expect anything less of my best bro. If you hadn’t figured out what I go for by now, I think I’d have to rescind all your best bro privileges.” 

“I don’t even have any best bro privileges, Lance.” 

“Sure you do. You just haven’t noticed them. But I’d bet you’d notice the loss of them.” 

“Alright. I’m in. Sorry Pidge, but someone’s gotta protect this client.” 

“Yeah, with Lance on the hunt we can hardly leave the poor guy to fall victim to Lance’s bad pickup lines.” Pidge reluctantly closed her computer and stowed it in its carry case. 

“Hey, some of my lines are really good!” 

“Lance, we’ve heard you use ‘what’s your sign’ before. You cannot claim your lines are good after that,” Hunk said, shaking his head. 

“Ouch, man. Just ouch.” 

“Sorry. But a best bro tells it like it is.” Hunk set aside his tools and joined Pidge in cleaning up. 

“Guys, we’re in a hurry,” Lance reminded them. 

“And we can’t leave without getting our stuff. If we’re going on a job, we need to be prepared. Especially if it’s an unsanctioned job, because if Allura catches up to us, there’s gonna be blood, and I’d rather it not be ours,” Pidge said. “You should arm up too.” 

“Alright fine,” Lance sighed. “You’ve got five minutes. But let’s GO.” 

Lance rushed off, leaving them to do their nerd stuff while he went to grab his things. 

* * *

Keith had been alone for maybe fifteen minutes when three people walked in. The one at the front of the group was on the tall side, scrawny as all get-out, had tan skin, brown hair, eyes like the lake Keith’s family sometimes went to on vacations, and walked like he was a supermodel on the catwalk. Any other time Keith might have admitted he was attracted, and would maybe even have swallowed his social anxiety long enough to ask the guy for his number. The second person was short, pale, had long light brown hair and hazel eyes to match, looked vaguely familiar, and seemed ready to fight the world. She was only about half the size of the other two, but she was definitely the one Keith wanted to mess with the least. The final person was even taller and even darker than the first, was broader than the other two put together, and looked like he could split trees with his bare hands should the notion ever take him. However, he was hunched over as if trying to look smaller, and a little on the twitchy side. 

“Hi there,” the first guy said. “Coran said you need a team to take you to Marmora. We’re it. The name’s Lance, and this is Pidge and Hunk.” 

“I’m Keith. Nice to meet you.” And it was, but man did the circumstances suck. 

“Mutual. Now let’s get moving. No sense in wasting time, right?” 

A small inkling of suspicion trickled into Keith’s mind, and he wondered if maybe these three were the Overlord’s henchmen, but he dismissed it. Yes, it was odd at how quickly the bodyguards wanted to get moving, but when he was being chased by the Overlord, time was of the essence. The sooner they got him out of here, the better his chances were, and the better their chances were as well. And besides, would the Overlord’s men be brazen enough to steal him right out from under Coran’s nose? Okay, maybe they would, but he was a risk-taker. He would chance it. 

“Alright,” Keith said, and stepped forward. The three closed in around him, making him nervous. But of course they would. They were bodyguards. 

“This way to the garage,” Lance said, jerking a thumb towards a door at the other end of the room. Keith went with them, trying not to notice how jumpy they seemed and feel more and more nervous about this bunch. Had he made a mistake? Was he about to die? 

“And where are you three going?” a voice asked just before they reached the door. All of them jumped, and the big guy- Hunk- made some sort of strange noise of alarm that was close enough to a death rattle to make Keith believe the poor guy had been scared half to death. 

“Sh-Shiro!” Lance said, stepping around Keith. Keith had time to notice a distinctly guilty expression on his face. “W-we were just-” 

“And who’s this?” Shiro asked. He pushed Lance aside, and stared at Keith, and Keith stared back. 

The one time Keith had been at Wimbledon-Smythe’s before, he’d met a few of the “elite” bodyguards here. Takashi Shirogane had been one of them. But he hadn’t had the scar on his face back then. Or his prosthetic arm. What had happened to Shiro since then? 

“Keith, what are you doing here?” Shiro asked. 

“I needed bodyguards to take me to Marmora,” Keith said. 

“And Coran asked us to take him?” Shiro asked the guards, raising an eyebrow as he did. 

“Yeah!” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“Totally.” 

“Guys…” Shiro sighed, sounding tired. He opened his mouth to say more, but Lance spoke up first. 

“Shiro, please. We can do this! You said it yourself, didn’t you? We have the skills- your words. Let us prove it. It’s just a simple road trip to Marmora. We can manage that just fine.” Lance’s tone was wheedling, trying to convince Shiro. Apparently they were really bodyguards, but apparently they had NOT in fact been assigned to Keith. He prepared to step away and run. 

“You can manage that just fine, can you? Then where’s your clothing? Or do you intend to wear that the whole time? And do you know what route you’re going to take? Did you think about hotels at all? What kind of safety measures do you have in mind for when you stop for food, gas, or bathroom breaks?” 

Each of Shiro’s questions were met with “uh…”s from the three bodyguards. Hunk flinched each time as well. Shiro sighed and shook his head. 

“Guys, come on. You need to think these things through. You’re right, Lance, you do have the skills, and that’s why you need to do better than this. I’m really disappointed right now. We’ll discuss this more at my place.” 

“Wait, your place?” Pidge asked. 

“Yeah, my place. We all need to go home and pack, and rather than meet up back here we might as well meet up at the most central of our homes, which happens to be my apartment. Keith will come with me, and when you guys get back we can start talking about the details that you seem to have glazed over.” 

“So… you’re not going to stop us?” Lance asked. 

Shiro shook his head, a light smile on his face. 

“I happen to know Keith’s parents, so of course I want to help him out. And I do think you guys can do this. And since I’m part of your team, that means I’m coming along too.” 

“Thanks Shiro! You’re the best!” Lance exclaimed, and he, Hunk, and Pidge all jumped on Shiro to hug him. Amazingly, Shiro stayed upright. 

“I know I am,” Shiro said, his voice muffled from underneath three different teenage bodies. “Now get off and let’s move out.” 

The three teenagers removed themselves from Shiro, and before Keith could blink or protest he was being dragged onward. In a flash they were through the door to the garage and Lance was standing in front of a pegboard on the wall filled with various keys and saying “Hunk?” 

“Get the keys for the Paladin. Good speed and maneuvering, and it can take some major damage before it starts having problems,” Hunk said. 

“Alright,” Lance said, and reached for a set of keys, only for Shiro to use his greater height and longer arms to reach past Lance and snatch them up first. 

“Not so fast, hotshot. I’m driving.” 

“But-!” 

“But nothing. You’re our sharpshooter. If we get into some kind of crazy car chase, my hand to hand expertise means squat, but your steady hands and good aim will be vital. So I drive.” 

Lance fumed, but said nothing. 

“Does that mean he has dibs on shotgun?” Hunk whined. 

“No way, big man. We all know you need the front seat,” Lance said. 

“Plus the Paladin should have a sunroof that will give him a panoramic view in a fight, which will be more accessible from the back,” Pidge said. “I remember reading that in the manual.” 

“You read a car manual?” Keith asked, incredulous. Keith was a fan of cars- mostly of driving them, though he did know a bit about general maintenance and doing tune-ups- but he had never read a car manual in his life. 

“Of course I did. I’ve read all the manuals, since I wanted to know what kind of computer systems they have in place. The Paladin doesn’t have a whole lot, though. If I didn’t know Hunk knows his cars better, I’d recommend going with the Sentry. That thing has top of the line computer systems in place. In fact, I could probably even figure out a way to remote drive it so that if we lose our drivers, we can still keep going.” 

“Pidge, you scare me sometimes,” Shiro said, unlocking a car and getting into the driver’s side. He moved the seat back and began adjusting the mirrors as the others got in. Hunk took the front seat, and Pidge took the seat behind Shiro, and then Lance was making a flourish for Keith to get in the passenger side ahead of him. Keith sighed as he got in. He did not want to sit in the middle. 

“The nice thing about being a bodyguard is that you never have to sit in the middle, because that’s where the client goes,” Pidge sighed happily, as if reading Keith’s mind. 

“Amen to that,” Lance agreed, sliding into his seat and shutting the door. “I may be the tallest but I’m also the skinniest in my family, so I always get put in the middle. And my sibs always find it hilarious to purposely squish me every time we turn.” 

Shiro turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. He pulled out, and they were on their way. 

It was only a ten-minute drive to Shiro’s apartment. Once there he parked outside, and they all went up to his apartment together. Once there, Lance insisted on going inside and doing a sweep to check for threats before they could all go in, but he came back after a minute to announce that there was nothing, not even a pair of dirty underwear left lying around. And then Lance, Pidge, and Hunk all left, and Shiro and Keith entered the apartment alone. 

“Home sweet home,” Shiro sighed. “Now tell me, why would the son of Toby and Tori Kogane be heading to Marmora all on his own?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work title comes from the song "You'll Never Be Alone" by Capital Kings  
> Chapter title comes from the song "Trouble" by P!nk  
> And yes, I know that in canon, Keith's mom's name is Krolia. I just chose to ignore that.


	2. On the Road, Maybe

Shiro could tell Keith wasn’t giving him the full story. But he didn’t have to, because what he did say was more than enough. Shiro heard him out, and once Keith was done, Shiro let out a ten-ton sigh. 

“The Overlord, huh? I wonder if I should call those three and tell them to step away from this one.” 

“So they’re not that good?” Keith asked. But Shiro knew enough about Keith to know that Keith was really asking if he could trust them. 

“It’s not that. Honestly, your odds aren’t any worse with them guarding you as they are with another team, but that’s just it- they’re not good odds, no matter what. And since being assigned to their team, I’ve grown pretty fond of them, and I feel responsible for them. I don’t want them getting hurt, any more than I want you getting hurt.” 

“So they are good?” Keith pressed, still seeking information. Shiro caved. He was always such a softie. 

“They are. Which is why against my better judgment, I’m not going to call them off. But we will need some clothes for you, so I will need to call Pidge.” 

“Um, Shiro, Pidge is like half my size.” 

“True, but her brother isn’t. You might remember him. Matt Holt?” 

Keith frowned for a moment, and then his eyes went wide and his face opened up in recognition. 

“No wonder Pidge looks familiar! She’s Matt’s sister?” 

“Yup. And given that we can’t go get your own clothes, that means you have to borrow some, and if they’re mine or Hunk’s you’ll be swimming in them, and Lance is a twig who wears tight pants so you won’t fit his clothes either, but Matt is about your size and build so we’ve gotta borrow from him.” 

Shiro pulled out his phone and made the call. While he waited for Pidge to pick up, he said to Keith “And you should probably get rid of your phone. The Overlord might think to track it.” 

“I don’t have it with me,” Keith told him. Shiro nodded, and then Pidge answered. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Pidge? While you’re home, could you ask your brother for some clothes Keith could borrow?” 

“Oh sure. I’ll go ‘ask’ him right now,” Pidge said, in such a way that meant she was not going to ask at all. 

“Pidge, does your brother know that you raid his drawers?” 

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, he’s even more of a slob than me so he probably won’t notice. And before you ask: yes, I’ll make sure to grab things that are clean.” 

“Thank you. I’m sure Keith will appreciate it.” 

“It’s a shame all Matt’s nerdiest t-shirts are dirty though…” 

“You can skip the shirts. He’ll borrow mine.” 

“Are you suuuuure?” Pidge asked sweetly. 

“Definitely.” 

“Okay then. Less for me to carry I guess. Oh, and Shiro?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Lance has a crush.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yup. So make sure he doesn’t do anything too weird. You know how he gets.” 

“Thanks for the warning Pidge.” 

“No prob. See you in a bit, chocolate chip.” 

“Bye.” Shiro hung up. “Well there’s that taken care of,” he told Keith. “I’ll go pack my things and we’ll hope the others are back by the time I’m done.” 

“You still haven’t told me anything about them,” Keith complained, trailing after Shiro as he went into his bedroom. 

“Well most things you could want to know, you can just ask and they’ll tell you.” 

“I’d rather hear it from you. I know you. And my parents think well of you. I know I can trust you. I can’t say the same for them, unless someone trustworthy vouches for them.” 

Shiro began pulling t-shirts and underwear from his dresser. “Well that depends on what you mean. If you’re asking if you can trust in their skills as guards? Yes. If you’re asking if they could be spies for the Overlord? Not a chance. They’d never sell you out. They’re a loyal bunch, and if they know you know me and know Coran, then they will have your back 300%. If you’re asking if you can trust them with cooking, the answer is Hunk yes, Pidge and Lance, and me for that matter, no. Trust is relative, Keith.” Shiro placed all the clothes he’d pulled out of his dresser into a duffel bag, and headed to his closet, opening the door. 

“Okay, but what’s the part you aren’t telling me?” 

And there it was. Shiro had always had a weakness when it came to direct questions. He was no good at lying, and so he would always evade, and evade, but once he was cornered the truth always came out. 

“They’re… Originally they were a three-man team. But they had some problems, some dissatisfied clients, and so I was added to the team to look after them. Besides, after my injury I needed to take it easy. No high-profile clients, no solo assignments, working with them was what I needed, and what they needed too.” 

“When you say problems…” 

Shiro sighed as he shifted through his pants and started pulling pairs off their hangers. 

“They lack focus,” he admitted. “They’re... easily distracted. It shouldn’t be a problem on a job like this though. We’ll be driving across country, so there will be less opportunity for distractions. And I’ll be there too. I know the circumstances, and I know what’s at stake, so I’ll make sure they don’t mess up. Trust me, Keith. If it weren’t for things that are just as much bad luck as their own personal shortcomings, they’d be every bit the bodyguard I am. Maybe even better. I mean, Lance is the best shot at the agency. And Pidge can hack anything, which is really useful, actually. She’s saved clients lives by keeping them off of security footage. And Hunk has some of the best instincts out there. He has a strong sense of danger, and it applies not just to him but to the people around him. And even if they sometimes mess up, they’ve never let any harm come to their clients. Not a single scratch to any of them.” 

“I see.” When Shiro turned back from his closet to face Keith again, the boy’s face was unreadable. 

Shiro looked away. The fact of the matter was that he did think Lance, Pidge, and Hunk could do this. And in his opinion, they were the best team for the job, since with their reputation the Overlord would disregard them, which would buy them some time. Time enough to reach Marmora. And he knew how badly they wanted to prove themselves, and didn’t want to be the one to stand in their way. But at the same time, a part of him did hope Keith would ask for different bodyguards, since getting Keith to Marmora may have been enough to guarantee his safety, but it would not guarantee theirs. Doing this job would probably follow the four of them for the rest of their lives. Lives that were unlikely to last long afterwards. 

Keith didn’t say anything more until after Shiro had packed his pants and gotten out his tent and sleeping bag from the closet. The tent probably wouldn’t be necessary, but it never hurt to be prepared. 

“Well, if you say they can, I guess I should trust them. And it’s not like we can really turn back now, is it?” Keith said. 

“You could still go back and ask for different bodyguards. Coran might even spare Allura to go with you, since she’s the best.” 

“But you said my odds are about the same no matter who I’m with. If you’ve vouched for these guys, then they’re good enough. Let’s just do this.” 

“We won’t let you down, Keith,” Shiro said, grabbing the boy’s upper arm for a moment and then letting go. He headed to the bathroom to grab his toothbrush, some toothpaste, shampoo and shower soap, a comb, and his lucky rubber duck. Once he’d collected all his items, he returned to the bedroom, where Keith was still sitting on the bed. 

Just as Shiro began to pack the toiletries, he heard a low groaning sound come from Keith’s stomach. 

“Are you hungry? I only have instant ramen, but it might be good to eat something before we head out.” 

“Yeah, thanks,” Keith said. Shiro led the way back to the main room and headed to the kitchenette. He opened a cabinet and produced two cups of dried noodles, and handed one over. He pulled the top halfway off the one he’d kept, filled it with water to the line, and stuck it in the microwave. Keith watched the process with interest. 

“We always get the ramen packets,” he said offhand. 

“Those do make good snacks. But not everyone likes to eat the noodles straight like I do.” 

“You can eat them straight?” 

“Sure you can.” Shiro reopened the cabinet and grabbed a packet of noodles. He tore the open and then broke a chunk off, handing it to Keith before taking another chunk for himself. As he munched on it, the microwave dinged, and he pulled out his cup ramen, then motioned for Keith to hand over the other cup. 

As the cup ramen cooled, Keith began to nibble on the dried noodles. 

“You know, maybe I’m just that hungry right now, but this is actually pretty decent,” he said. 

“It’s good stuff, let me tell you. Also, are you good with disposable chopsticks for the cup ramen? Because I broke my plastic spoon the other day so that’s all I have.” 

“Yeah, we use chopsticks all the time. But that is really bad for the environment. You should get some actual utensils.” 

“Maybe when I get around to buying some actual dishes and learning how to cook. I mostly eat out, Keith.” 

“My faith in you is slowly dwindling.” 

“Having a lousy diet does not make me any less of a bodyguard! Besides, bodyguards rarely have time to cook on the job.” 

“So you admit that your diet is lousy.” 

“You are not my mom, Keith. Don’t even go there, mister.” 

Keith snorted and held out a hand for the finished cup ramen and some chopsticks. Shiro obliged, and when the other cup was ready he joined Keith, the two of them slurping their cup ramen and munching on the dry ramen. 

They were about halfway through their snack when someone knocked on the door. Shiro motioned for Keith to get down and hide behind the counter, then stalked cautiously towards the door. 

“Shirooooo, it’s me and Hunk,” Lance’s voice called. Shiro moved a little less cautiously, but just to be safe he checked the peephole. Lance and Hunk were standing there armed with duffels and sleeping bags, Hunk turning his thumbs and forefingers over and over each other, and Lance shaping his hands like a heart at the door- their individual codes for “all is well”. Shiro opened the door and let them in. The moment Hunk stepped inside, his nostrils flared. 

“Wait a minute,” he said as Shiro shut the door. “I smell… instant ramen! Shiro, we’re supposed to be protecting the client, not feeding him trash! Shame on you!” 

Keith popped up from behind the counter, causing Shiro to flinch. They’d have to teach him to stay hidden until the all clear was given in the future. 

“It’s just cup noodles. We were hungry and it was a fast snack,” Keith said. 

Hunk gasped, affronted, and put his hands over his ears. 

“Nope, nope, I can’t deal with this, nope. I cannot hear such sacrilege of food spoken so innocently!” 

“Oo, is that raw noodles? Can I have some?” Lance asked, dropping his duffel bag and heading for the abandoned snack on the counter. 

“Sure,” Shiro said. At the same time, Keith said, “Help yourself.” Lance helped himself. 

“Noooooooo,” Hunk moaned. “I am about to embark on a mission with a group of total heathens! Someone, please, save me from this nightmare!” 

“Oh, quit the dramatics, Hunk. Like you don’t eat ramen from time to time,” Lance argued. 

“Yes, but I know how to properly prepare it! I know what extra seasoning to add, I know what additional ingredients are needed, I can make it something delectable! But you! You don’t even add an egg! That’s like the absolute basics!” 

“I take it Hunk is a bit of a gourmand?” Keith asked Shiro. 

“A bit?” Shiro asked. “This is part of what I was talking about before, Keith.” He hoped Keith would take the hint and realize that food was one of Hunk’s distractions, and also that he didn’t want the others to know he’d told Keith about their issues. Keith didn’t say anything more, so Shiro remained hopeful. 

“And the worst part is, I know Shiro well enough to know he has pretty much no other food in this apartment, so I can’t even fix you a proper meal,” Hunk sighed. 

And then there was another knock on the door, and Pidge was calling out “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start,” which was her verbal cue that everything was clear. Shiro opened the door and let her in, and then she put the final nail in Hunk’s coffin as she handed over a backpack and said “There’s two pairs of jeans, a pair of cargoes, and five pairs of briefs in here. It’s all I could find, I’m afraid. Ooo, is that ramen I see? I want.” 

Hunk groaned in agony, and Shiro just knew that he was on the verge on having an irritated neighbor come over to complain about the noise. 

“Alright, guys,” he said. “Let’s start planning this trip.” 

* * *

It was almost an hour since they’d gotten to Shiro’s apartment when they hit the road. They’d planned their route, and Pidge was in the process of researching hotels along the way using her laptop and an aircard for internet access. Shiro had managed to convince them all to leave their phones behind, since he wanted to take every precaution. He hadn’t even gotten any resistance, which was odd until he remembered that they were going behind Coran’s back with this. Of course they wouldn’t want to have their phones along when Coran and Allura would surely be wanting to know where they’d gone. 

They made only one stop on their way to the highway, which was a drive-thru window at a burger joint to pick up some sandwiches and fries since Keith was still hungry and the rest were getting hungry too. Keith wondered how many of their meals would be eaten on the go like that. He supposed restaurants would probably be risky, but eating greasy burgers while driving down the road wasn’t exactly living the life. Still, if it kept him alive, he really couldn’t complain, could he? And how could he ever say no to fries, especially when there was an order of curly fries as well? Sure, they were technically Lance’s, but Keith managed to sneak a few when the other boy wasn’t looking. 

They drove along with the windows down. The bodyguards all felt nervous about it, but it was a necessary risk with Hunk in the car, since the air flow helped his motion sickness. Between that and the medicine he took, it kept him from throwing up, but had he thrown up it would have been just another reason to have the windows down. But they all were secretly glad of the open car, since the wind in their faces felt good. They were all smiling as they began their journey. 

They stopped smiling when the argument about stereo privileges started. Hunk insisted that shotgun was the traditional seat for choosing what played over the stereo. However Pidge and Lance argued that such reasoning became invalid when Hunk had to sit shotgun or get violently ill, and so they should get to play their music. Shiro argued that given their circumstances, music would only be a distraction and that they should turn on the news and get out Pidge’s police scanner and listen for any possible threats. Keith didn’t care so much what they listened to as long as everyone stopped screeching at each other. He was tired, and wanted a nap, but that was currently impossible. Though it did kinda amaze him how all the bodyguards could have such different tastes in music. Pidge apparently liked gangster rap, Hunk liked EDM, Shiro liked punk rock, and Lance was into folk music. Keith didn’t dare speak up and say he was more of a classic rock fan. He supposed Shiro’s tastes would be okay, but they were a bit too emo kid for Keith’s taste. 

They probably drove about twenty miles before the argument was settled. They decided to listen to classical, since although they weren’t any of them huge fans, none of them hated the genre. And so they went cruising along to the strains of Vivaldi and Bach and Mozart and Beethoven and a whole bunch of other dead white guys whose names Keith had heard several times but could still barely remember. Somehow, it wasn’t the right kind of music for a road trip. 

In the end, they only drove for two hours. It was still fairly early to be stopping for the night, but Shiro insisted. Keith didn’t mind, since it meant he could get some sleep in a real bed, and without worrying about accidentally using Pidge or Lance as a pillow and dribbling on them. So once they had their room for the night with its two queen-size beds and a couch, Keith went to take a shower before he’d go to bed. As soon as he was safely in the shower, the bodyguards had a huddle. 

“Shiro, you’re acting really odd,” Pidge accused. 

“Yeah, man,” Hunk agreed. “I was surprised you were the one who suggested leaving phones behind. Like, sure we were planning on it because Coran tracking us down would not be pretty, but we thought for sure you’d wanna keep at least one, just in case. And stopping this early? The only reason I can figure is that you think someone might follow us and that they’d expect us to get as far as we can as fast as we can.” 

“That’s because that’s exactly what I was thinking,” Shiro admitted. “Keith told me a bit about his circumstances. I should have mentioned it sooner, but I was worried you guys would back out, and Keith needs us.” 

“Okay, that right there? Already I’m scared.” 

“What is it Shiro?” Pidge asked. 

“The Overlord came for his parents.” The change in their body language was instantaneous and obvious. Pidge went pale and her face pinched in on itself like she just sucked 5,000 lemons. Hunk began twitching like he was having a seizure. And then they both turned to look accusingly at Lance, who had widened his eyes and covered his mouth with his hands. 

“You knew, didn’t you?” Pidge said. Lance’s eyes returned to normal, and he lowered his hands to reveal his mouth was set in a grim line. He nodded. 

“Lance!” Hunk and Pidge exclaimed. Shiro rubbed at the scar on the bridge of his nose. 

“Lance, I don’t even know where to begin…” Shiro said tiredly. 

“It’s exactly as you said, Shiro. He needs us. Yeah, this is dangerous. But if we know the Overlord is after him, and we do nothing, we don’t deserve to call ourselves bodyguards.” 

“We already don’t deserve to call ourselves bodyguards,” Hunk gloomily pointed out. 

“It’s too late to back out now, Hunk. Besides, if anything, it makes this job even better for us, because we know that now more than ever, we can’t afford to mess up. If we do, it’s not just the client who gets in trouble. It’s all of us. If we can’t even get it right when our lives are on the line, then it’s probably a safe bet to say we won’t ever get it right.” 

“I still can’t believe you,” Pidge said bitterly, shaking her head in irritation. “You go behind our boss’s back to take on a client, knowing fully well that it is a dangerous job that is way over our heads, and you don’t even bother to tell us all this until after the fact? Thanks a lot McClain.” 

“We’ll have a talk about this later, you and me,” Shiro warned. Lance sighed in defeat. “But for now, let’s go over our schedule for the night one more time.” 

That was the elite bodyguard Takashi Shirogane for you. Always focused on the job. 

* * *

It was just one thing after another. To make the calls she had been asked to make, Allura needed to access Coran’s office, and so she had to get the pepper bomb cleaned up. And getting that done took almost two hours. During those two hours, Allura had to field several phone calls. Like when the client that had just fired Shiro’s team had their lawyer call to try and arrange a reimbursement. Allura was more than happy to explain how the customer had signed a contract that agreed to the requested payment, regardless of services rendered. She was all too familiar with that particular line of the Wimbledon-Smythe’s service contract, thanks specifically to that team. When the office was finally cleared, Allura went in to get the phone numbers she needed, vowing to make sure she had both physical and digital copies of such things in the future. It wasn’t the first such mishap to have happened in Coran’s office. At least there had been no fire this time. 

And then came THE call. 

She had just gotten off the phone when Coran came in. 

“Allura, there you are. Have you finished making the arrangements yet?” 

“Unfortunately, no. I had to wait for your office to be cleaned before I could start, and they only just finished. But I did just get a call that might interest you.” 

“Oh? What was it about?” 

“Ryner from Olkarion just called about Lubos making a visit to the city soon. He has plenty of bodyguards already, but Ryner was hoping that we could provide a couple of guides. People who know the city well, and who have a bodyguard’s eye for risks. It seemed to me like the perfect job for Shiro’s team. I’m sure even they can’t mess it up.” 

“That does sound like a good idea, although the other three will have to do it without Shiro, since I wanted him for Keith’s team of bodyguards. Speaking of which, I also wanted to know if you’d seen Shiro, or knew where he might be, since I can’t seem to find him.” 

“He might be out to lunch. It is a bit late though. Have you tried calling him?” Allura asked, holding up her phone and pulling up Shiro’s contact information. 

“Oh. Right. Good idea. Why don’t you do that?” 

Allura made the call. She held the phone to her ear, but rather than hearing the tone that indicated the call was in progress, she instead heard a little mechanical voice saying “The number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later.” 

“His phone is off,”Allura said, frowning. Shiro NEVER turned off his phone. He knew better than to do that. 

“Well perhaps Pidge, Hunk, or Lance might know,” Coran said, twiddling his moustache. “Trouble is, I can’t seem to find them, either.” He raised his eyebrows at Allura, and she sighed as she got the implication. She dialed Pidge first, since she was the closest to Shiro alphabetically, and also Pidge was the biggest tech geek ever and always had her phone. 

Again, the same message played. Perplexed, Allura tried Lance, who jumped on her calls like a starving man jumped on a pizza, and when his phone was off too, she ignored the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and tried Hunk. The same message, yet again. 

“Coran, all their phones are off,” she told her boss. 

“Oh. Oh dear.” Coran’s worry lines appeared, and he left the office in a hurry. Allura followed after him, catching up as he headed out into the main gym and shouted out “Has anyone seen Shiro, Pidge, Lance, or Hunk recently?” 

There were a few calls of things like “Not since their return,” or “Pidge and Hunk were in that one lab earlier,” but then someone called out “I think I saw them heading to the garage with some kid earlier.” 

“When?” Allura asked. 

“What kid?” Coran asked at the same time. 

The guard who had seen them shuffled, uncertain whether to first answer his boss who paid him or his boss’s assistant who really ran the show and who could end him if she got angry with him. He went with his boss. 

“I don’t know, just some kid. Dark hair, late teens, kinda scrawny, kinda pale, looked dog tired. As for when, it was a little over an hour ago. Not quite an hour and a half I think.” 

“Was this kid, by any chance, wearing a red and white crop jacket, a dark t-shirt and pants, and red and white boots?” Coran asked, trying not to shake. 

“That sounds about right, yeah. Why?” 

“Allura, get on the phone! Call them again! Keep trying until you reach someone, and call Keith’s number too while you’re at it! If you haven’t reached anyone within half an hour, call the police and get them looking for those five!” 

“On it. I’ll also check which car they took. We can track them down that way.” 

“Good thinking! Just make sure we find them before the Overlord does!” 

At the mention of the Overlord, the guard they’d been questioning paled, as did everyone else within earshot. And all of them, even the ones who relentlessly teased Pidge, Lance, and Hunk, all began to pray to any deities they believed in and even a few they didn’t believe in that those three idiots hadn’t gone and gotten in over their heads this time.


	3. Going Undercover

Keith grudgingly allowed himself to be awakened for dinner. They might have let him sleep, but Shiro insisted on it. There was a conveniently located pizza parlour next door, and so Pidge ordered them a couple of pizzas and Hunk went to go pick them up. As the five of them dug in, Pidge brought up another issue they hadn’t yet considered. 

“So, Coran and Allura are gonna notice that we’re gone sooner or later. They may have even noticed already, though, under the circumstances, I doubt it,” Pidge began. 

“No, they might have noticed,” Lance interrupted. “I think Coran was going to put together a special team for Keith, and Shiro would definitely have been on such a team.” 

“Lance, buddy, you mean to tell me,” Hunk said, “that Coran was going to pull together the best of the best the agency has to offer to protect this guy, and you decided that we ought to take over it instead?” 

Even groggy, Keith still managed to note that apparently Lance was the one who had gotten the team to assign themselves to him. Most likely, Lance was an impulsive guy. That was something to watch out for. It also kinda added to his already strong attraction factor, but this was really not the time to be hooking up with anyone. Plus, was making out with your bodyguard even allowed? Not that he was considering such a thing... 

“Hunk, my man, we have superior team dynamics to a team that has just been randomly cobbled together. We know how to rely on each other, and when to rely on each other, and a team of the best would likely butt heads with their oversized egos. Also, we were ready right then and there, whereas such a team as Coran would have designated would have taken some time to finagle. Plus along with Shiro, I think we could bet on Gyrgan and his ilk being on the team, and I, for one, relish the idea of rubbing it in his face that we completed such a high-risk job while he was off doing whatever things he does in his free time. But yeah, superior team dynamics and ready availability.” 

“You wanted bragging rights? Seriously? If someone’s gonna get killed by a bunch of Galra thugs, I’d much rather it be Gyrgan than us!” 

Keith tried to keep his feelings off his face as he registered that they apparently knew who was after him. From what Shiro had said before, he didn’t think Shiro had been planning to tell them. Well, maybe it was better to have it out in the open right from the start, rather than letting them find out the hard way when the Overlord’s henchmen were hot on their trail. 

“Except no one’s gonna die, Hunk. I know getting worked up is kinda your thing, so I won’t tell you to calm down, but as your letting yourself get tensed up over things, just remember that we’ve got this. You, me, Pidge, and Shiro. We’ve got this.” 

“Okay, that’s very lovely and all, Lance, but can we get back to the point?” Pidge asked, the edge of a snarl in her voice. Lance held out a hand, palm up, in a “go ahead” gesture, and Pidge nodded in satisfaction before continuing. “If Coran and Allura are onto us, then they’re going to think of checking the garage. Allura will probably do that right away, because she’s thorough like that. Meaning they will figure out that we have the Paladin, and they’ll be looking for it. They can’t get entire police forces mobilized since the Galra have spies, but they can get a few trusted individuals who have the make, model, year, and color of the car, plus the plate numbers, and they’ll catch up to us in no time.” 

“I presume you have a solution in mind?” Shiro asked. 

“Several. We could obscure the plates-” 

“Illegal.” 

“-switch out the plates with someone else’s-” 

“Illegal.” 

“-steal a car-” 

“Are all your suggestions illegal?” 

“-or visit a used car dealership and try and make a trade. But, knowing what kinds of people used car salesmen are, we’d likely get found by the Galra in doing so.” 

“So we’re screwed no matter what,” Keith said with false optimism. 

“I didn’t say those were all my ideas,” Pidge countered. “I have one more, but I don’t think anyone’s gonna like it. But it is legal- probably- and it won’t get us caught, I can guarantee that.” 

“What is it?” Shiro asked, leaning in closer. The others all drew in as well. 

“We call Rolo and Nyma.” 

“Gowwwwww, not those two!” Hunk groaned, flopping against the back of his chair so suddenly that it tilted onto two legs for a moment. 

“Great idea Pidge, I’ll just give them a call,” Lance said at the same time, pulling out a notepad and flipping it open as he reached for the hotel phone. 

“What?” Hunk sputtered. “Lance! No! It’s a bad idea! Don’t ‘just give them a call’! And why do you even have their number?” 

“Numbers. I have multiple contacts for both of them. As for why… um… weeeeelll… there’s a very good reason for that, which was, uh…” 

“Which was Nyma’s glorious golden hair and her cute tittering laugh?” Pidge asked with acidic sweetness. 

“Pidge, I don’t go for poisonous viper types like her. I do have standards, and I am offended that you would think otherwise.” 

“Maybe because you’ve given plenty of reason to believe otherwise.” 

“Okay, but that’s not it! When you and I were still keeping an eye on them, we saw in their email how they were supposed to find someone to work as a maid for that Haxus dude, and my one cousin was looking for a job at the time and while she wanted better she was getting rejected a bunch and figured with our race domestic service would be about all she could get and so I contacted them about it and they told me that Haxus is actually total scum and probably has Galra ties- unproven of course- and they went and helped my cousin find a legit job that wasn’t vacuuming carpets. And so I’ve helped them out with a few things here and there- nothing illegal, I swear- and we hang out sometimes, and we’re cool.” 

“Will you being cool make them more likely to set us up with a car?” 

“Yeah. I think we can even trust them to hold onto the Paladin for us.” 

“It’ll be stripped down for parts within seconds of us meeting up with them,” Hunk sighed. 

“Um, excuse me,” Shiro said, “but would you mind filling in the clueless party here as to who these people are?” 

“A couple of con artists,” Hunk said. 

“Please tell me you’re exaggerating.” 

“No, he’s not,” Pidge said. “They are con artists. And black marketeers, and bounty hunters, and they are shady as all get-out but they aren’t Galra. In fact, they hate the Galra. And when Lance and I looked into it, we found out that they seem to be part of a movement trying to undermine the Galra any way they can. They might just be doing it because the Galra are bad for their business, or they might be doing it for high-minded ideals, but either way, they can get us a car, and we can trust them not to call up the Galra the moment we turn our backs on them. Probably.” 

“Way to sell that idea, Pidge,” Shiro sighed. “Okay, if you and Lance think it’s good, I’m fine with it, but I think Keith should make the final call. He is the client after all.” 

“And I don’t know much about anything right now,” Keith countered. “So I’ll trust your guys’s judgment, if it’s all the same.” 

“Wise choice,” Pidge said approvingly. 

“So we have three yea’s and a nay. The ayes have it,” Shiro said. “Call them up Lance, and ask if there’s any way we can meet them tomorrow.” 

“But we’ll have to backtrack!” Hunk protests, still not cool with this plan. 

“Actually, we won’t. Rolo and Nyma have some friends in Taujeer. We can see if they can meet us there tomorrow, or if they have any friends in the area who might help us out. It’ll mean I owe them big time after this, but they’ve owed me for a while now, so I’m sure they’ll be happy to adjust the balance,” Lance said. 

“Great. Then it’s settled,” Shiro said. “Let’s just hope no one spots the car tonight.” 

“Unlikely, since Hunk insists on using car covers,” Pidge said. “Also Lance, ask them if they can get us some phones. Nothing fancy, it just might be a good idea if we can call or text each other just in case.” 

“Great, is there anything else we need to address?” Shiro asked as Lance nodded to show he'd heard. 

“What about bank accounts?” Hunk asked. “They might try and track those and could find what hotels we’re at.” 

“Not happening,” Pidge said, waving a hand as if waving his concern away. “I left Matt a note warning him that if he or anyone else tracked us down, it could put our lives in danger. I didn’t realize how accurate it was at the time, but whatever. Point is, he’ll definitely make sure our tracks are covered.” 

“You left your brother a note like that?” Keith asked, incredulous. “Won’t that, I don’t know, freak him out?” 

“Possibly. But it’s just as likely to get him all excited, so if he’s not currently curled up in the fetal position on the floor, hyperventilating about me being in danger, then he’s probably super excited that I’m on such a cool job, slightly jealous that I’m on said cool job without him, and a little bit furious that I am not answering the texts he’ll likely sending every thirty seconds pressing me for deets. It’ll probably take a while before he actually calls to demand to know why I’m not texting back and realize I turned my phone off. Either way, he’ll have our backs, albeit remotely.” 

“Jeebus you guys are insane.” Keith yawned. “Alright, if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna head back to bed now.” 

“Sure thing. Sleep well, man,” Hunk said. “Or as well as you can at least.” 

“Mmhmm,” Keith mumbled, already halfway under the covers. 

The bodyguards planned their shifts for night watch, with Lance, Pidge, and Hunk insisting that Shiro rest since he was the driver, and then spending a good ten minutes bickering over who took what watch. After a match of rock-paper-scissors that almost became a fistfight, a few coin tosses, the usage of a spin-the-wheel app on Pidge’s laptop, and a round of “down by the banks”, it was decided that Hunk would take first watch, Pidge would take the second, and Lance would get the final shift. Though they all knew Pidge would likely just stay up until her watch since she was half nocturnal anyway and tended to sleep in the car. Though of course they’d have to exchange the cars before she could nap. 

And so they settled down to their first night, which passed by in complete peace. 

* * *

It was nightfall, and there was still no word of the missing bodyguards or Keith. Needless to say, Coran was pacing and babbling about all the things that could go wrong. 

He was in a meeting room, along with four other people: Allura, of course, who was currently on the phone, as well as three of their best bodyguards, Gyrgan, Trigel, and Blaytz, all of whom had been asked to join the team that would be protecting Keith. Gyrgan had been readily available, but both Trigel and Blaytz had been pulled from other jobs, and Trigel in particular was getting a little annoyed over abandoning a client, regardless of the situation. 

“Since you’ve already established that those misfits have seen fit to take on this job, why are we still here?” Trigel grumbled. “The client is gone, and we are not needed, and I have a prior client whose safety is currently not ensured thanks to this mishap.” 

“Trigel, sweetpea, please,” Blaytz pleaded, “we can’t just let this be. They could get killed! We owe them better than that.” 

“‘Could get?’ You mean ‘will get’ killed,” Gyrgan said. “They’re not suited to be bodyguards, and as such, I agree with Blaytz that we must go after them. For their safety and the safety of their client.” 

“Fine, fine, you two can go, but I have my client to consider,” Trigel snapped. “My client who is paying for protection, but is currently in the hands of a couple of lunkheads.” 

“Trigel, Coran’s not going to let your client get harmed in your absence,” Blaytz soothed. “And besides, don’t you still owe the Holts from years back? It may not be Pidge specifically that you owe, but I’m sure Sam will be very grateful if you keep his daughter out of harm’s way.” 

Allura hung up her phone with a sigh. 

“I’ve contacted all the reliable officers I can, and they’re all looking as much as they can without attracting attention, but there’s been nothing so far,” she said gloomily. “And Matt said he hasn’t seen any bank account activity that we can track. I can only assume they knew we’d come looking for them, and for whatever half-witted reason, they are trying to keep us off their trail. It is good, since it may keep the Galra off them as well, but they have no idea the danger they’re in, so we must find them.” 

“I see,” Coran said, taking a break from his pacing to sit on the edge of the table. “Then there’s no helping it. We’ll have to split up and search the different routes to Marmora. Allura, put together teams to work under the four of you, using any men we can spare. Reject all incoming job requests. We can afford the losses: finding those five is of paramount importance right now. All of you, once you head out, use caution, and be discreet. If we draw too much attention to ourselves now, we’ll point the Galra right at Keith. We cannot let that happen. Our reputation is on the line.” 

“With all due respect, sir, our reputation is on the line whenever those three are involved,” Gyrgan said. 

“Dash it all, man! That was meant to be a dramatic speech! You are supposed to be in awe for another 12 seconds before you speak up, and when you do, it ought to be a more positive tone that that! Be a little teary eyed, and tell me that you’ll try your best and I am an inspiration, will you?” Coran barked. Allura put a hand to her forehead. 

“Sorry sir, but professionalism dictates that we waste no time and get to work, especially in such a dire situation,” Trigel said calmly, earning herself a grateful look from Gyrgan. 

“Oh. Right. I see,” Coran sniffled loudly, as if devastated, then added in a shaky voice, “off you go then. Spit spot.” 

The four guards left the room, already trying to lay claim to their fellow guards who they knew to be unassigned at the moment. They all wanted the best teams they could get, because they were about to go up against the deadliest crime ring in the country. And also the better the team they had, the more likely they would be the ones to find the missing client and self-assigned team, and they would get a fair amount of glory for doing so. Nothing like some pure intentions, right? 

* * *

Despite Hunk, Lance, and Pidge’s best efforts to let Shiro get some rest, he was up bright and early, at five o’clock sharp even without an alarm set to wake him. He was kind enough to let Keith sleep in, partly because he knew the boy hadn’t slept the previous night and needed his rest, and partly because he may have agreed to accept Rolo and Nyma’s help, but he did not want to bring Keith along to meet them. His bodyguard senses screamed against the idea, and he had learned to listen to those senses. They had kept his clients alive and unharmed, and had even minimized the damage to just his arm on that awful day when he’d almost failed. He could have died, but instead he just lost an arm. Not bad. 

And so it was decided that Hunk and Shiro would stay and guard the sleeping Keith and Lance and Pidge would make the drive to Taujeer to make the switch. Hopefully they wouldn’t get caught before they reached the garage where they were supposed to meet their shady contacts. 

The drive over was uneventful. They did have a mini-panic when they heard sirens at one point, but then they recognized the sound as being that of an ambulance, not a police car, and it was going the opposite direction too. When they reached Taujeer, Lance steered them into a dimly lit parking garage and headed down to the lowest floor. There, in the darkest corner of all, Lance pulled into a spot near the end. The only other car was parked along the perpendicular wall, and on the hood where seated two figures with familiar faces. Rolo and Nyma waved as Pidge and Lance got out of the Paladin. 

“Hiya Lancey-poo!” Nyma called. 

“Hey there, we’ve got a real treat for you guys here,” Rolo said as they came over. “I wouldn’t trust just anyone with this baby.” 

“Oh my god,” Pidge said, stopping in her tracks as she got a better look at the car. “Is that a Beezer? I’ve heard so much about that model! Is it true? Please tell me it’s true, it’s got to be true!” 

“It’s all true,” Nyma said, somehow knowing exactly what Pidge meant. 

“Kya! I’m in love!” Pidge squealed. It was the girliest Lance had seen her in, well, ever. 

“If it’s such a nice car, are you sure you should be lending it to us for this job?” he asked. “Who knows what could happen. We might not be able to return it, and even if we do, there’ll probably be dents, or scratches, or both, or-” 

“Lance, it’s cool,” Rolo interrupted. “You said enough that we figured you must be going against the Galra somehow. If it’s for that, we’re willing to take the loss of a car. And we trust you. You’ll find a way to pay us back, I’m sure.” 

“Thanks guys. I owe you big time for this,” Lance said. 

“As much as I’d love to cash in on that favor...” Nyma said. 

“And you know she would,” Rolo interjected. 

“You don’t owe us anything. Because with you going against the Galra in any way? That’s like doing us a favor. And since we owed you, and you’re doing us another favor, we feel that it evens the score. Plus, like Rolo said, we trust you. That means not keeping tabs on who’s done what for whom. Though if you do fall behind, I’ll be sure to let you know, of course.” Nyma winked. 

“So what exactly are you guys doing anyway?” Rolo asked casually, changing the subject. 

“We can’t say,” Pidge said. 

“So it’s a client, huh? No use trying to hide it. We’ve been watching you guys just as long as you’ve been watching us, and I’m pretty sure you know we’ve been watching you guys, midget. Considering how subtle you are with tech and all, I think you would’ve caught on pretty quick.” 

“I noticed about a week after we first met.” 

“Nice. It was about a month for us. You really shouldn’t have erased that one video tape for us. Like, thanks for doing it, it really saved our skins, but that was what finally clued us in.” 

“Like you said, anything to go against the Galra. You hate them, I hate them, we all hate them. So why not help each other out, now and then?” Pidge shrugged. 

“True, but we are getting off subject. Which may be your intention.” 

“You’re the one who first diverged.” 

“Sass-mouth. So what’s this client like, anyway?” 

“If you’re going to ask why they’re on the run from the Galra-” Lance began. 

“We weren’t, but thanks for confirming that your client is on the run from them,” Nyma said sweetly. Lance made a face. 

“Sooooo?” Rolo asked, drawing out the word and tilting his head to ask for an answer to his earlier question. 

“Lance thinks he’s cute,” Pidge said. 

“Pidge!” 

“Okay, that’s it. We’ve definitely gotta meet this client of theirs,” Nyma said. “He’s on the run from the Galra, AND Lancey-poo thinks he’s cute? I did everything I could to charm Lance Askance, and got no reaction whatsoever, even though I always manage to charm men. I wanna see this client and find out Lancey Lance’s type.” 

“Oh, that’s easy,” Pidge drawled. “It’s basically anything that moves. Anything human, that is. Or as far as I know, and if it turns out to be otherwise, I really don’t want to know.” 

“Says the girl who just professed her love for a car!” Lance protested, blushing so crimson he almost glowed. 

“Love has many forms, Lance. Besides, I think we’re talking less about what you love and more about what you lust after. Like Keith and his apparently nice butt. Though personally, I’ve never really understood that. A butt’s a butt. You sit on it and poop comes out the rear. Nothing pretty about that.” 

“Let’s drop this topic, please.” 

“I don’t know, I thought it was getting kinda interesting,” Nyma said. 

“I’m okay with it being dropped,” Rolo said. “Because frankly, I am getting more than a bit disturbed over here. And I would like to go over the basics with you, like how to work the windshield wipers and how to switch to manual driving if you prefer that, and other such things.” 

“Sure thing,” Lance said, He headed over to the driver’s side of the new car, with Nyma tossing him the keys on the way, and got in the car. The rest of them clustered around the door, with Rolo pointing at different knobs and buttons as he explained things. Finally, it had all been explained. 

“So do you want to take her on a test drive?” Rolo asked. 

“Nah, I trust you guys,” Lance replied. 

“That’s a dumb thing to do,” Nyma, Rolo, and Pidge all said together. Lance snorted. 

“Maybe, but you guys haven’t let me down yet,” Lance said. “Besides, I always was a risk-taker. And if there’s any problems, Hunk can probably fix it.” 

“Hunk? He’s that other guy who was with you before, right? The one that hated us?” Nyma asked. 

“Still hates you,” Pidge said. “Which is one of the reasons he didn’t come along today.” 

“I bet he was dead set against asking this of us,” Rolo said, running his fingers through his hair. 

“Oh yeah.” Lance nodded exaggeratedly. “But cooler heads prevailed, as you can see.” 

“I guess so,” Rolo agreed. “But we should all be going soon. The longer we take the more likely we are to get seen. Phones are in the glove, by the way.” 

“Right, right.” Lance handed over the keys to the Paladin, and Rolo and Nyma headed over to it as Pidge got in the passenger seat of the Beezer. 

“Stay safe you two!” Nyma called as Lance started the engine. “And your big friend and your client as well!” 

Lance waved his acknowledgement, and they pulled out, leaving their allies behind. 

“You did check the gas gauge right?” Pidge asked as they pulled out of the garage. 

“Yes, Pidge. That was even one of the things Rolo pointed out, remember. It is a bit low, so we will stop along the way, but we won’t run out anytime soon.” 

“Good.” Pidge went silent, but in that way that Lance knew something more was coming. He waited, and was not disappointed. “By the way, remember what I said about how I could program a high-tech car to remote drive it?” 

“Not happening.” 

“But-!” 

“Would any of us be able to drive it after you’re done?” 

“Probably not, but neither would the Galra.” 

“Not. Happening.” 

“You’re no fun.” 

“Our job isn’t supposed to be fun, Pidge.” 

“True. But that hasn’t stopped us before.” 

“Fine. Run it by Shiro, and if he says yes, you can do whatever you want.” 

“Okay, I give. Uncle and all that.” 

“That’s what I thought.”


	4. Hope Springs Eternal

Keith awoke to only two bodyguards, one of whom was in a total panic. Shiro was sitting calmly in an armchair in their hotel room, reading a book while Hunk paced, tore his hair out, ranted, and frothed at the mouth. Not all literally. 

“Uh, what’s going on?” Keith asked. 

“Good morning,” Shiro said, putting his book down. “What’s going on is that we sent Lance and Pidge up ahead to make the car exchange, and Hunk has been extremely nervous about it since before they even left.” 

“Of course I’m nervous!” Hunk insisted. “They’re only meeting two of the sketchiest people we know for a deal that could only go wrong in about a hundred different way! And they should have been back by now! They’ve been caught by the Galra. They’re being tortured as we speak or are already dead or-” 

“Hunk, the only way they’d be back by now is if they were speeding the whole way there and back and made the exchange in less than a minute,” Shiro sighed. It seemed likely he’d been using such reasoning for a while now. 

“Except Lance always speeds when he drives! I knew it, something is definitely wrong. This was a bad idea. Rolo and Nyma probably cut the brake lines so they got into an accident. They must have been spotted by the Galra and couldn’t risk leading them to us so they’ll never come back to this hotel, they-” 

“Hunk, if they did get caught, it could just as easily have been by Coran. In fact, getting caught by Coran is more likely at this point. And Allura would not kill them. She’d just… make them regret their every life decision that got them to this point.” 

“Shiro, that’s not exactly a reassuring thought,” Keith pointed out as Hunk moaned and collapsed on himself until he was curled in a ball on the floor. Shiro sighed. 

“I’m really not good at dealing with this,” he said. “I do hope Lance and Pidge get back soon. I’d rather Lance didn’t speed, since a ticket could be what gets us ruined, but all the same…” 

“My dad always says that it’s useless to get worried about things that are outside your control. Those two are the only ones who can make a difference if things go wrong right now. You wouldn’t have sent them alone unless you believed they could handle it on their own. So I’m sure it will be alright.” Actually, Hunk’s panic was a bit contagious and Keith was hoping that they hadn’t messed up and made the wrong decision in deciding to contact these people the bodyguards knew, but now didn’t seem like a good time to say it. His dad also said a lot that scary situations are the best time to keep a cool head, even if it’s only a facade, since people are easily frightened and do dumb things when they are, but seeing someone stay calm helps to reassure them. 

“Hm,” Shiro hummed, rather than actually answer. “Breakfast is leftover pizza, I’m afraid. Do you want me to heat it up for you or will you just eat it cold?” 

“Don’t you dare eat it cold!” Hunk snapped, abruptly standing from his egg position. “It may be junk to begin with, but that doesn’t mean you can commit atrocities like eating it cold in good conscience! That’s almost as bad as eating it with pineapple on it!” 

“I think I want it heated up, Shiro,” Keith said, feeling intimidated. He understood why people might not want to mess with this guy. Hunk nodded approvingly, and actually seemed to calm down as Shiro microwaved the pizza and then handed it over for Keith to eat. 

“We should have gotten breadsticks,” Keith said ruefully as he began working on his slice of sausage pizza. “With garlic. And some herbs.” 

“Next time then,” Shiro conceded. 

“Shiro, we are not going on a pizza diet for the duration of this road trip,” Hunk said, sending a glare at Shiro that made Keith want to cower but which Shiro ignored. 

Keith had just about finished his breakfast when Lance and Pidge returned. Hunk sprang to his feet to answer the door, and once he’d confirmed it was them and let them in, he wrapped them both in a bear hug. Keith wasn’t sure he didn’t hear some bones crack as Hunk squeezed. 

“Everything okay?” Shiro asked. 

“Yeah, we’re good,” Lance wheezed, his face tightening as Hunk’s hug went a little too far. Hunk released them and both Lance and Pidge took several grateful breaths, gulping up air to make up for lost time. 

“Easy on the hugs there, big guy,” Shiro told Hunk. “If you squeeze all the air out of them, they can’t do their job, and this one’s gonna be a bit much for just you and me alone.” 

“Oh. Sorry,” Hunk said, blushing a little. 

“S’all good,” Pidge panted. “It was good practice. For…” Pidge tilted her head as she tried to think of what it was good practice for. 

“For being winded! Or getting hit in the ribs, or refilling our lungs after a long time holding our breath!” Lance said, picking up the slack. 

“Exactly.” Pidge snapped her fingers. “You read my mind, Lance.” 

“Well, I hate to brag and all, but I do have psychic powers you know. I usually don’t read people’s minds ‘cuz it’s rude, but I can sometimes see the future. Like right now, I just know that Shiro’s gonna come hug us next, right?” 

Shiro sighed, but got up and wrapped an almost fatherly arm around Pidge and an equally almost fatherly prosthetic arm around Lance. 

“Thanks guys,” he said. 

“You should thank me,” Lance said, leaning dramatically on Shiro. “I had to put up with Pidge gushing about the car the whole ride back. I was slapping her little claws away from the dash computer every ten seconds, I swear.” 

“What kind of car?” Hunk asked. 

“It’s a Beezer, Hunk,” Pidge said, her eyes shining. “A _Beezer_!” 

“Holy sweet Jesus mama! A Beezer? For real?” Hunk’s eyes also sparkled for a moment, before suspicion crossed his face. “That seems a bit too good to be true, don’t you think?” 

“Hunk, baby, Rolo and Nyma aren’t quite that crooked, I swear.” Lance extracted himself from Shiro and moved to lean on Hunk instead. “They know how important this is, and wanted to make sure we had the best odds by giving us the best car for the job. That’s why a Beaver.” 

“Beezer,” Hunk, Pidge, and Keith all corrected as one. 

“Oh, so you like cars?” Lance said, turning his gaze on Keith. Keith felt his heart skip a beat. What had Hunk said when he heard they’d gotten a Beezer again? Sweet honey Jesus mother? Something like that. Close enough. It was an apt reaction to how Keith felt with Lance looking at him like that. How was he supposed to keep from falling when the boy was so cute? This was no time to be developing a crush. But damn if Keith didn’t feel himself trying to fall right now. 

“A little,” Keith replied, managing to say it normally. 

“Nice, nice.” Lance nodded a few times, then turned away, and Keith felt his heart squeeze again at the sudden loss of that wonderful gaze. 

“So are we gonna hang around until lunch, or hit the road already?” Pidge asked. 

“Hit the road, please,” Hunk groaned. “I looked at what there is to eat around here, and it is dismal. The pizza we got last night was about as decent as it gets, and we are not having more pizza.” 

“Should we hit a grocery store so that you can cook for us at the next hotel, your snobbiness?” Pidge asked, making her voice slightly breathy to convey her fond exasperation. 

“Ooooo, good idea Pidge! What should I make? Something balanced, of course, but what would be a good meal? Maybe sushi? Or there’s this Moroccan bean salad I could make that’s pretty good-” 

“No beans!” Lance yelled. “No beans! You know Pidge will enjoy farting up a toxic storm!” 

“Aw, Lance, how sweet of you to remember.” Pidge said. 

“I don’t think any of us will ever forget,” Shiro said, a distant expression on his face. “And the client likely won’t either.” 

“Yeah, before that day, I think I would have believed that even we couldn’t possibly get fired over farts,” Hunk said wistfully. “How wrong I was. I was so naive, back then, so naive.” 

“Worth it,” Pidge said. 

“I take it you’ve gotten fired over Pidge’s consumption of beans before?” Keith said. 

“We’ve gotten fired over lots of things,” Lance sighed. “Some of them are still rather hard to believe, and we were there.” 

“Yeah. Like that time with the mice,” Pidge said. 

“Oh god. Or when Lance faked the bomb in the leaf pile so he’d have an excuse to jump in it,” Hunk sighed. 

“Oh please. Like you weren’t itching to jump in it yourself, Hunk. I just came up with a legitimate fake excuse before you did, and you’re just jealous,” Lance scoffed. 

“Whatever, it still got us fired.” 

“Your clients must hate you a lot,” Keith said. 

“Some do,” Pidge told him. “But others actually really like us a lot.” 

“Yeah, like the Balmeras,” Lance said. “They’re at least half the reason we can still get clients in the first place. They still tell people what a good job we did protecting their daughter.” 

“And Shay still sends flowers and chocolates every year,” Pidge said, smirking sidelong at Hunk. 

“Yeah, she really is a nice girl,” Hunk agreed, not catching on. 

“A nice girl who is totally waiting for a certain someone to ask her out,” Pidge said, hinting a bit further. 

“Wait, she has someone she likes? Oh. Oh dear,” Hunk said, looking stricken. Pidge sighed and shook her head, rolling her eyes. Lance turned away with a hand to his mouth to try and contain his own amusement. A small chuckle did still escape him, but Hunk didn’t seem to notice. Keith did though. And he had a sinking feeling he’d be noticing a lot of little things Lance did from now on. 

“ANYWAY,” Pidge said loudly, garnering attention before continuing at a normal volume, “I have put together a list of potential stops along the way, so why don’t we go over those now before we hit the road?” 

She pulled out her laptop and turned it to face everyone and they all scanned it together. 

“This looks good,” Shiro said, nodding in approval. “Nice thinking, Pidge.” 

“Um, isn’t this…?” Keith began. 

“Dang girl, is that a luxury hotel listing I spot here?” Lance asked. “Nice taste, but can we really afford it?” 

“We can bill it to Coran,” Pidge told him. “Just because we’re on the run doesn’t mean we can’t be comfortable.” 

“Okay, but really, this is-” Keith started again. 

“Ooooo I’ve seen reviews of Bonjour Cucina!” Hunk gushed. “They all rave about how good the food is. I’ve heard you can order literally anything on their menu and just one bite will make you cry. Some people even faint from how good it is. I’ve always wanted to eat there. It has to be one of our stops!” 

“What is wrong with you people?” Keith asked in a whisper. Ironically enough, this was the thing everyone actually heard. They all turned to look at him, puzzled. 

“I-I just mean that, um. Look, I’m sure you know a lot more about what you are doing here than me and all, but, just, that’s… No matter how I look at things, that is a list of tourist destinations.” 

“Uh-huh,” Pidge said nodding enthusiastically. 

“But like, um, I dunno, shouldn’t we be hurrying off to Marmora rather than wasting time checking out museums and shit?” 

“Nope,” Lance said, grinning. “That’s the beauty of Pidge’s proposal here.” He opened his mouth to say more, but Pidge reached over and shoved him, hard, so he toppled to the side, and Pidge took over, speed-talking to finish before anyone interrupted her. 

“The Galra will be expecting you to be moving quickly. If they know where you’re headed, they’ll know how long it will take you to get there, and will plan accordingly to have people waiting there to apprehend you. BUT as more time passes from your expected arrival and you don’t show up, the more doubts and irritation will be spread among them. They’ll all be thinking ‘Why are we still waiting here? This is a waste of time. He probably got here before us. He probably isn’t even coming here. He probably isn’t even worth trying to catch in the first place. If I’d have known I’d be getting bullshit jobs like this, I would never have joined the Galra. I regret everything! Waaaaa!’ And like, basically, they’ll slowly become less and less motivated and more and more inattentive and so by the time we get there, they’ll be easier to get past, or they may have even given up entirely. Voila.” 

“So why not just hole up somewhere and wait things out?” Keith asked. 

“Staying in one place would definitely get us caught,” Hunk said. 

“Besides, we’re going on a road trip anyway, why not enjoy it?” Lance asked. “Take in the sights, learn a few things, eat good food… Doesn’t it sound like fun?” 

“I’m not here to have fun,” Keith snapped. “I’m here because the Overlord is after me, and getting to Marmora is my only chance of staying alive.” 

“And we’ll get you there,” Shiro promised. “And while it may not seem like it, this is the best route to go. They won’t expect to find you at tourist attractions, and there will be plenty of people around to witness anything the Galra might try to do to you. It’s as safe as you can get.” 

“Sorry Shiro, but I’m not convinced,” Keith said, crossing his arms. “But… if we’re going to do things from that list no matter what, can we set aside a day for the National Science Museum? I’ve always heard about their exhibits and really wanna go.” 

“Dude, I think you just may be my new best friend,” Pidge said, her eyes shining. “We are _definitely_ hitting that place up.” 

“Oh boy. Here we go,” Hunk muttered, but he smiled as he rolled his eyes for everyone’s benefit. 

“Like you won’t be right there with her,” Lance retorted, also smiling. 

“Just don’t try and climb on any of the model rockets, please, Lance,” Shiro sighed. 

“Aw, don’t worry, I’ll let you take the pilot’s chair,” Lance smirked back. 

“Guys, my parents are cops,” Keith moaned, shaking his head because he didn’t know how to deal with these people right now. 

“Don’t worry, we won’t do anything illegal,” Pidge told him. 

“Yeah, that would put the Galra on our scent like starving wolves attacking a sick rabbit,” Hunk said. 

“Very reassuring, Hunk,” Lance sighed. “Keith’s confidence is probably just overflowing thanks to that imagery.” 

“Oh. Sorry man. But really, we’re not the type to break the law. At least, I’m not. With these two you can never be sure though…” Hunk inclined his head towards Lance and Pidge. 

“Hey, I resent that!” Lance protested. Pidge however, just smiled ambiguously. 

“Well, I, for one, would like to request going to visit Thayserix Springs,” Shiro said. “If we head over there today, we can get some training in and then camp out for the night.” Pidge, Lance, and Hunk all groaned. 

“Training?” Keith asked. Would they maybe teach him some stuff? He knew some basic self-defense techniques, but his parents had always been too busy to take him to martial arts lessons or sports practices. 

“We have to stay sharp if we’re going to protect you,” Shiro said. 

“Sadist,” Lance muttered. 

“You know as well as I do that you need it, Lance,” Shiro replied, an edge to his voice. Lance’s ears reddened, and he said no more. No other objections were voiced. “Alright then, let’s pack up and get moving,” Shiro ordered. Reluctantly, they all obeyed. 

* * *

They did have to stop at a conveniently located sporting goods store near the springs. While Shiro had brought his tent and the bodyguards all had sleeping bags, Keith had next to nothing. Also, they needed to get some food and cooking utensils, since no one had brought such things in their rush to pack. Shiro might have, given that he seemed to have everything else they might possibly need, but given that he lacked cooking utensils to begin with, it was agreed by all that he would be the one to keep whatever pots and pans they bought. 

Once they were geared up though, they drove over to the springs Shiro had mentioned. As they neared the springs, mist began to form, thickening into fog as they drove along. It was eerie as all get out, and all four bodyguards seemed tense. Even Shiro, who had suggested this place. Lance in particular looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. 

“You, uh, you guys don’t think this place is, like, haunted or anything, right?” he said, voice trembling, as they crawled along. 

“Shiro, are you sure this is a good idea?” Pidge asked, leaning across Keith to poke her head up front. “We’ll never see anyone coming in this.” 

“But anyone coming will have to get close to hurt us,” Shiro pointed out. “Plus we can do some sense training.” The younger three bodyguards groaned. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” 

“No it won’t,” Hunk whined. 

Eventually, they reached a mostly vacant parking lot. They got out of the car and grabbed all their stuff, and Shiro turned to Pidge. 

“What’ll be the most comfy way for you to sleep?” he asked her. “Front seats reclined, sprawled across the back seat, or is there some way we can flatten the seats so you can lay out the long way?” 

“Front seat reclined. I already spend too much time in the back seat,” Pidge replied. Keith looked between the two, confused. Lance was the one who picked up the slack and explained things to him. 

“Pidge is a bit more private than the rest of us, so we like to give her her space. Plus, she’s the only girl, so it makes sense to leave her with the car, and also there’s a toilet out here but wherever we set up camp there will be only bushes.” 

Keith nodded in understanding, blushing a little. It was because of the topic at hand. Not because Lance was standing really close. Definitely not that. 

Hunk went ahead and moved the passenger seat back and reclined it for Pidge to sleep in later, and then they locked the car and headed off down a trail. They hiked for almost half an hour before reaching a creek, which the trail followed to a cliff where the creek came tumbling down towards them. There was an observation point, and the trail ended, however Shiro led them over the wall and began free climbing up the cliff. Once at the top, he tossed a rope down, and they all lifted the supplies up to him via the rope. Afterwards, the rest of them followed: first Pidge, then Keith, then Lance, then Hunk. At the top, they hiked for another hour before they found a cave, which Shiro led them into. 

“Ugggggghhhhh, as if this place wasn’t already creepy enough, why does there have to be a cave?” Lance whimpered. 

“Would you like me to look up the area’s history so you know what kinds of ghosts might be hanging around?” Pidge asked evilly. 

“Nooooooo,” Lance moaned. “Not listening to Pidge. Lalalala I don’t hear you.” 

“Pidge, lay off,” Hunk said, nudging the girl. It was a light nudge, yet it still almost sent her sprawling. “You know how he is about ghosts.” 

“Exactly,” Pidge grinned. 

“Pidge, stop deviling Lance and go check out the cave,” Shiro ordered. “I’ve been here before, and it’s not that deep, but we need to know if anyone else is in here, and if so, who.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m on it.” Pidge gave an airy wave and headed off, disappearing into the fog that was still thick. Keith could understand Lance’s fear all of a sudden, since he got an ominous feeling in his stomach that they would not see Pidge again. 

The ominous feeling proved false, as Pidge reappeared within five minutes, as Shiro and Lance were trying to pitch the tent and Keith was telling Hunk about his bike as a distraction from his nerves. She reported that the cave was empty, but there was a nice hot spring near the far wall. 

“That would be one of the springs this place is named after,” Shiro informed them. “Another reason we came here. It’ll be nice relief for your sore muscles after training. I know it certainly helped me back when Alfor brought me here.” 

“We’ll probably need it,” Hunk sighed woefully. 

“Probably? I think you must have meant to say definitely. Funny how words can get mixed up like that,” Pidge said. 

“Is training really that bad?” Keith asked. 

“Oh yeah,” Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all said, nodding vigorously. 

“No it’s not,” Shiro said, rolling his eyes. 

“It is,” Lance mouthed, barely visible even from a few feet away with the thick fog. 

“Stop lollygagging and figure out who gets which round,” Shiro said. 

“Lollygagging?” Hunk scoffed. “Who even says that?” 

“I do.” Shiro’s tone was firm, and contained a hint of warning. The three younger bodyguards all gulped. 

“Third!” Pidge shouted. 

“Th- Second! Second!” Hunk yelped. 

“Th- Se- Fuck!” Lance shouted. 

“Language!” Shiro reprimanded. 

“Sorry.” 

“Let’s go then,” Shiro said, and he and Pidge moved away, while Lance moved closer to Keith. 

“Uh, what just happened?” Keith asked. 

“We take turns protecting our mark,” Lance explained. “But given that when you’re not protecting the mark, you get to take a breather… well, let’s just say Pidge stole the best slot, Hunk got the decent one, and I’m royally screwed.” 

“How so?” 

“Four rounds total. The last one’s the most intense. Technically it’s supposed to be the round Shiro sits out, but in actuality he only sits out for about half of it. Plus I can guarantee Pidge and Hunk will totally double team me since I’ll be the most tired at that point.” 

“Huh. I thought you guys were friends.” 

“Oh please. Like we’d let a little friendly sparring get in the way of our friendship. Besides, I would totes do the same to either of them and they know it. And it is good practice. It just sucks because it means tomorrow I’m gonna be one big bruise.” 

They sat in silence for a while, but there was a question that was really bugging Keith. 

“By the way, aren’t you guys a bit young to be bodyguards?” 

Lance laughed. 

“We are. Technically Pidge is still too young to be doing this legally, but Coran was able to bend some rules or get special exemptions for us or something. I don’t know the technicalities of it all. But we’ve been at this officially for about three years now.” 

“Three years?” 

“Yeah. Coran was gonna make us wait, but we proved ourselves.” 

“Proved yourselves how?” 

“Funny story that. And a bit long. Let’s just say we nosed in on a job and kicked some ass, met Rolo and Nyma along the way, almost got involved in some sketchy stuff thanks to them, but it all worked out. I’ve never before seen the look of shock and awe on Allura’s face when we brought Shay back okay. It was quickly replaced by the now-familiar look of exasperation she usually has when she sees us. But there was a brief moment there… Ah, good times, good times.” 

“But how did you even get involved in the first place?” 

“Oh we all have our stories of how we came to start training at Coran’s.” 

“Well what’s yours?” 

“Mine?” Lance laughed. “Ha. That’s uh,” Lance hesitated, and in the moment Hunk appeared. 

“Lance, you’re up,” he said. Lance leapt to his feet and jogged off towards where the others could be seen as hazy outlines. 

“Is the story of how he became a bodyguard embarrassing or something?” Keith asked Hunk. 

“It could be? I don’t think it is, but I guess maybe it would be to some.” 

“Well what is it?” 

“Lance apparently grew up watching lots of action movies and reading comic books, and he wanted to be like the heroes. He found out I was training to be a bodyguard, and begged me to let him come along. Then he got to the agency and wheedled Coran until Coran let him in. Lance does do a good pouty face, plus I think Coran saw a kindred spirit in him, so Coran caved pretty quickly.” 

“What makes you think Coran thought they were similar?” 

“Well, legend has it, and I have this from some pretty good sources, actually, that once upon a time, Coran H. Wimbledon-Smythe was just a normal eccentric young billionaire. He did normal billionaire things like, oh I don’t know, play tennis and golf and go sailing or whatever. Anyway, Coran got bored of all that pretty quick, and decided he wanted to be one of those heroes that has no powers but makes themselves super by spending their fortune on awesome gadgetry. So he hired one Alfor Regis and one Samuel Holt to help him out. Both were skilled with technology and good fighters, so they could help him invent things and train him to handle any situation. Only that wasn't exactly panning out. 

“Anyway, Coran eventually realized he didn’t have what it took to be the hero he had imagined. He was ready to give up that dream, but had a new one: protecting the people. So he started the agency with the help of Mr. Holt, who already came from a long lineage of bodyguards, and Alfor, and also Allura, who was willing to invest in the dream that her father shared in. Which was good, because later on Alfor somehow pissed off the Galra- no one’s really sure how. And as badass as he was, he still couldn’t fend them off.” 

“Wait, Allura’s father? Was he friends with Coran or something?” 

“Allura’s last name is Regis.” 

“Oh.” 

“Right. So anyway, Coran wanted to be a superhero, Lance wanted to be a superhero, they’re both a couple overgrown children. But that’s what makes them so loveable.” 

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Keith said, hoping the fog hid his blush. “But you said you were already training to be a bodyguard? How’d that happen?” 

“There was a kid in my first grade class who was getting bullied. I thought it was wrong so I said something to the bullies, and they were kinda scared of me so they would leave the kid alone when I was around. But only when I was around. So I made it a full-time responsibility, and I liked that I was protecting someone and doing something good, so I told my parents I wanted to be a bodyguard when I grew up. My mom and Mrs. Holt were sorority sisters, and so when Mrs. Holt heard she mentioned how Pidge was training to be a bodyguard because, like I said, long lineage of Holt bodyguards, so we started training together.” 

“Wow. That’s… I’m at a loss for words.” 

“Yeah… I guess it is kinda amazing how it all worked out, when I look back on it.” 

“I can’t imagine knowing what you wanted to do way back in first grade.” 

“Well, if I hadn’t made that decision then, I think I might have chosen differently. Like, I do like my job, don’t get me wrong, but it would have been cool to study geology a bit. Or maybe I would still have done the training, but I wouldn’t have become active until after college. It’s not like I have any real plans for being a geologist, I just really wish I could learn more about it, you know?” 

“So why not take time off to go to college?” 

“Dude, we barely have time for our studies. We take all our classes online, and when we’re on the job, we often can’t keep up with assignments. Then again, these days we spend more time between jobs than we do on assignment. I guess if we got fired I could go to school…” 

“Hunk,” Pidge said, gasping for breath as she staggered over to them. She doubled over, jabbing a thumb behind her to indicate Hunk was to return. She flopped down next to Keith as she caught her breath. 

“Wasn’t the first round longer?” Keith asked. 

“I think Shiro wanted to be nice,” Pidge panted. “Don’t tire us out too much before we all have our fun. And all that. So tired. So what were you and Hunk talking about?” 

“Oh, y’know… Just… what he’d be doing if he weren’t a bodyguard and how you all got started on this path.” 

“Nice, nice. Oh! Did he tell you about Shiro?” Pidge’s grin was so wide Keith thought her face might split open. 

“Uhhhh… no?” 

“Aw man, that one’s great. It’s fucking epic.” 

“Really?” Keith wasn’t sure how it could possibly be more epic than Coran trying to become batman. 

“Oh yeah. Buckle up, buttercup, and strap yourself in for the ride of a life because it, is, a, _doozy_.” Pidge leaned forward, her former breathlessness somehow vanished with the prospect of spilling Shiro’s past exploits, whatever they may be. “Okay. So. Back in the day, wee little teenage Shiro, was quite the troubled lad. Very troubled indeed,” Pidge said, shaking her head and tutting a bit. “He ended up joining one of those underground fighting rings you always see in movies. Only, in this case, it was real life. But anyway, he joined a fighting ring. And he was pretty good. Well, one day, _Mis_ ter Alfor Regis, bodyguarding god, happened to pass by while Shiro was having a fight. And afterwards, he went up to Shiro, mildly impressed and was like, ‘that wasn’t too bad, but how abouts you actually try fighting _for_ something.’ Only then Shiro just spit in his face. 

“Well, Alfor, being Alfor, he wasn’t one to give up easily. So he came back the next day, tracked Shiro down and all. Only this time, he brought Allura.” 

“Oh no,” Keith said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

“ _Oh yes_. So Alfor goes up all like ‘hey so have you thought at all about what I was saying yesterday?’ and Shiro was like ‘dude, fuck off, get the fuck out of my face, fuckface’. And Allura heard that, and she got mad, because you didn’t talk to her dad like that. You just didn’t. And so she goes up all like ‘is there a problem?’ and Shiro went ahead and buried his own grave and built himself a coffin in one fell swoop, because he was like ‘go home little girl’ even though Allura’s like, the same age as him, maybe even older.” 

“Shiro said that? _That_ Shiro?” Keith asked, tilting his head towards where the others were practicing. 

“Uh-huh. So anyway, Allura, predictably, smiled sweetly and then bitch slapped him into the next week. And then she went up to him, and just laid into him. Verbally. Bitched him out completely. And of course, Shiro wasn’t gonna just sit there and take that, but he wasn’t about to hit a girl because that wasn’t gonna fly, so he tried to walk away, and she didn’t let him, and so they kinda danced around a bit, and Allura finished her rant but they still kept going, and finally Shiro had enough and so he tried to hit her, not seriously, and Allura twisted his arm half off and told him that he could take her seriously or she could make him suffer. So he seriously tried to beat her, and she seriously fucked him up. Like a motherfucking lady. 

“So after she’s done humiliating him in front of everyone, and just, making him look like a joke, she tells him that if he wants to be better he should come with her and her dad, but if he wants to continue going nowhere in life then he’s in the perfect place for that and she won’t stop him from staying. Alfor apologized for Allura’s behavior, even if he had kinda encouraged it a bit, and gave Shiro his business card. Sure enough, two days later Shiro showed up at Coran’s door, since after Allura’s ass-whooping no one was ever gonna take him seriously again. Dumbasses couldn’t even tell what a badass she is.” 

“I don’t know whether to be impressed by Allura or disappointed in past Shiro,” Keith murmured. 

“Why not both?” 

Eventually, Shiro came over and Pidge returned to the practice in his stead. Keith subtly tried to look for a hint of the apparently angsty and rebellious teen Shiro had once been, but he just couldn’t see it amidst all the dad vibes Shiro exuded now. Shiro smiled as he stood next to Keith. 

“They’re doing pretty good. They’re always getting better, but they seem extra motivated. I think the danger of this job is really helping to focus them, so thanks, Keith. Er, not that I mean to be insensitive. Just, I meant that-” 

“No problem. I think I know what you mean. You’re not thanking me for my misfortune, but for the fact that I am trusting you guys to handle it, right?” 

“Yeah. Exactly. I’d rather you not be in this situation, but you are, and there’s no changing that now. And since you got dealt this shitty hand and we ended up getting involved, as a result they just might be able to focus. And I’m grateful for that.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

“Though if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask another favor of you.” 

“Sure. What is it?” 

“Help me with the training? Hand-to-hand skills are all well and good, but normally they would be used to protect someone, and right now they’re just sparring. Would you mind being the missing element?” 

“Uh, what would I have to do?” 

“I would be an assailant trying to harm you. Not really, of course, though I would try my best to keep you from getting away.” 

“Sure. Why not?” 

“Great.” Shiro held out a hand and Keith allowed the older man to pull him to his feet. But as Shiro pulled him upright, he yelled “Guys, your mark is in danger,” and proceeded to spin Keith around and put him in a choke hold. Keith’s eyes began to water, so he almost didn’t see the three shapes that came flying through the fog, barrelling towards him and Shiro. Shiro’s hold relented as he tried to fend off the three bodyguards, but did not let go completely, instead moving Keith so that he was shielding Shiro. The three split up, attacking from all angles so that Shiro could only use Keith as a shield for one at a time, and soon Shiro was forced to let go, and Keith found himself being tugged away while two forms filled the space between him and Shiro. It all went by so fast. Keith was alarmed, because he couldn’t even begin to keep up, but also a bit exhilarated by it all. And impressed. And maybe just a bit pleased to find that Lance was the one who was holding his hand and leading him away. 

“I give up!” Shiro’s voice cut through the mist, and Lance instantly dropped Keith’s hand. Keith tried not to feel too disappointed. They regrouped. 

“So, what’d you think?” Shiro asked, looking at Keith. Keith floundered. 

“I, uh, that was, uh, really neat? Like, I don’t know, you guys looked pretty tough?” Keith made a noise in the back of his throat, half-embarrassment and half-frustration, because the words were not working right. The bodyguards all smiled. 

“That good, huh?” Lance said. He was definitely sweaty, which was a little gross, but also he kinda made it work. In Keith’s opinion. Keith was a little biased though. 

“You guys did great, and not just in reassuring our client,” Shiro said warmly. The younger three guards’ eyes bugged out. 

“Oh. My. God. We just got a compliment, from Takashi. Shirogane. I don’t believe it. The apocalypse must be here,” Pidge said. Her hands moved all over as she spoke, slapping her cheeks, chopping the air in front of her face, getting thrown above her head, and then flopping down to her sides. 

“Puh-raaaaaaaaaiiiiiise Jesus!” Lance yelled, pumping his fist in the air. 

“Shiro, can I like, get a recording of that sentiment just now? Please?” Hunk said, his eyes large. Shiro put a hand to his face. 

“This is why no one ever compliments you guys,” Shiro said tiredly. 

“Except you never compliment anyone,” Hunk pointed out. “So like, this is a historical moment, yeah? And we should record it for posterity, to prove that Takashi Shirogane can actually give compliments.” 

“See what I have to deal with?” Shiro asked Keith. 

“Well, I might think they were overreacting, but I did just see four horsemen ride by…” Keith said, keeping his face perfectly straight. 

“Dude, if we all get through this alive, can we keep him, please?” Lance asked, addressing Shiro but keeping his gaze on Keith. And Keith knows it’s not, but damn if that doesn’t come off as flirtatious. 

_Calm down, Kogane_ , he told himself. _You know this really isn’t the time. And even if it was, Lance has other things going for him, so he doesn’t have space for you in his life._

His thoughts did not change the fact that he found Lance cute. Logic could only suppress attraction so much, after all. 

* * *

After the training session, the younger bodyguards went out to get some firewood while Keith stayed with Shiro. Once they returned, everyone changed into bathing suits to go sit in the hot spring. Keith was surprised to find out that Pidge had grabbed a pair of Matt’s swim trunks for him. Actually, on second thought, he wasn’t. They’d probably intended this sort of itinerary from the start, and had expected his reluctance. That could explain why she hadn’t mentioned having grabbed them when she arrived at Shiro’s apartment that day. Yesterday. Was it really only yesterday? Time was moving oddly. It felt slower, which was both panic-inducing and relaxing, since time was of the essence if things were going to work out, but it also meant he got to enjoy his time with these four bodyguards more. And he was enjoying it. Sure, there had been the squabbling over the music, and the bombshell of a meandering path to get there, but this group kept the atmosphere light, without the sense of impending doom he’d felt on the way to Coran’s. 

While in the hot spring, Keith could indeed see the beginnings of bruises forming on the skin of the bodyguards. Shiro’s were mostly on his good arm, which he’d used to block hits, but the others were scattered all over their bodies. Or at least Keith assumed that went for all three. Pidge wore a one-piece swimsuit that left only her arms and legs visible. 

Keith didn’t stay in the hot spring too long. There was something about the way Lance moaned as he got into the water that made Keith all too aware of how little they were wearing, and also he figured he ought to do something useful, like get a fire going for Hunk to cook their dinner on. Keith had never been camping before, but his dad would always let him help light the fireplace in the winter, and so Keith was confident that he could do this much at least. He gathered up some logs that the others had collected earlier, and got to work. 

Keith got the fire going just before Hunk and Pidge returned from the spring. Hunk examined it, giving Keith a pleased nod. 

“You did a really good job setting this up. I won’t even need to move things around to make sure our dinner cooks right. Thanks man.” 

Keith grinned back. 

“Not a problem. I’ve always had a knack for starting fires.” 

“Oo, seems we have a pyromaniac,” Pidge cackled. 

“What? No! I would ne-” 

“She’s just messing with you,” Hunk said, laying a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Don’t deign to respond. Otherwise she’ll never leave you alone. Case and point? If she messes with Lance, he freaks out, and so she keeps at him all the time. If she messes with me, I ignore her, and so she tends to leave me alone.” Hunk turned away and began to rummage through their supplies so he could prepare dinner. 

“Well, yeah,” Pidge said. “You don’t get bothered by anything, Hunk. Whereas Lance has such big dramatic responses to everything.” 

“Well, speaking of his dramatic responses, if you tell any ghost stories tonight then I’m sending Lance back to the car with you so that it’s you he wakes up every five minutes because ‘did you hear that? I think it was a weblum!’” Hunk turns away from his preparations for a minute as he badly imitates Lance’s voice. 

“What’s a weblum?” Keith asked. 

“Something Lance’s older brother made up to scare him as a kid. And which Pidge has used to scare him on multiple occasions since. She may or may not have created a bunch of web pages discussing their mythology just in case Lance ever started to doubt their existence and did an internet search on them.” 

“Isn’t that a little mean?” 

“I never said I was nice,” Pidge said, crossing her arms and setting her jaw for a fight. 

“I would say yes, but I might be partially guilty of Lance’s fears as well,” Hunk admitted. 

“Oh?” Keith asked. 

“So, uh, at one of our jobs there was a certain place you were supposed to keep watch from at night. And Lance kinda mentioned how spooky it was. And we may have teamed up to make the one phone near him call itself, so whenever he answered it there would be no one on the other end. And also we may have climbed to the roof above him and stomped a bunch, and done some other things to make noises that would freak him out. I thought for sure he’d catch on, but then he pretty much stopped sleeping he was so scared even when he wasn’t on watch, and we kinda got fired for that, and at that point I realize we might have gone a bit too far.” 

“Note to self, you two are evil.” 

“I’m not evil! Just Pidge!” 

Pidge grinned and rubbed her hands together. 

“Guess I’ve been found out,” she said, sounding gleeful. “But if you think I’m bad, you should really spend some time with my brother. And my dad.” 

“I feel so sorry for your mom,” Keith said. 

“Don’t. She’s actually the most devious of us all. She doesn’t pull pranks as often, but when she does, they’re spectacular. She’s a true artist.” 

“Yeah, their family is kinda scary. Even without the whole lineage of bodyguards and whatnot,” Hunk said. 

“Whose family is scary?” Shiro asks, joining them. 

Hunk points to Pidge with a spatula while Pidge raises her hand with a smirk. Shiro nods in understanding. 

They continue the banter as Hunk starts putting together some kind of stew. Keith hasn’t been paying enough attention to be sure what’s in it, but it smells good, so that’s a plus. They’re still at it when Lance gets out of the hot spring and comes to join them, rolling his neck as he emerges from the fog. Keith almost stops mid-sentence at the sight of Lance with his bare torso and his skin gleaming from the water still clinging to it and lust may be one of the seven deadly sins, but right about now Keith doesn’t mind going to Hell for it because damn. As in, damn, Lance is hot, not as in damnation is coming for him, even though it totally is because of the thoughts going through his head. 

Keith manages to tear his gaze away and stares down at his lap, trying to find a way to suppress the rising blush. Maybe if he thinks about cold things? Like… Oh crap. Why is it so hard to think of anything cold all of a sudden? Probably because he’s got it bad. For someone who is probably untouchable. 

Lance doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss as he asks what’s for dinner, for which Keith is immensely grateful. Shiro is giving him a look though. One that could be knowing. Or concerned maybe? Puzzled? All of the above? Best not to dwell on it too much. Keith tunes in just in time to hear Pidge’s response to Lance’s question about dinner. 

“Well if you’d stayed in there a bit longer, we could have had fish,” she said, “but once again you didn’t undergo any mermaid transformations, so we’re stuck with a stew made from the beef we picked up along the way. You may remember doing that?” 

“Oh shut up, Pidget the Midget,” Lance retorts. “I would turn into a merman, not a mermaid.” 

“Making height jokes now? That’s cute. You know what else is cute? Boils. The kind that you _lance_.” 

“Oh boy, this could get ugly,” Hunk muttered nervously. “Uh, hey Shiro?” 

“Lance, Pidge, unless you want to do some extra training right here right now, I suggest you knock it off,” Shiro said. 

“Yes dad,” the two of them grumbled simultaneously. Shiro blushed, and the twin grinned and high-fived. Keith wondered if maybe the whole fight between them had been staged just to lead up to that little witticism. From the earlier conversation, he knows he can’t put it past Pidge, and he’s not sure he can put it past Lance, either, based on that grin. He wonders if he can convince them to let him in on any future trolling. Seems like it’d be fun. 

Hunk finishes the stew and serves it up, and they eat in silence. After dinner, Pidge is handed the keys to the car and she leaves them to make the trek back to the car alone. Keith supposes she can handle herself, but he still doesn’t like the idea of her being alone. Of any of them being alone. Lance was right, this place IS creepy. 

“Alright, sleeping arrangements,” Shiro says as soon as Pidge is gone. “Keith, you get one edge of the tent, I’ll be next to you, Hunk is next, and Lance is on the other edge.” 

“Does it matter?” Keith asked. 

“Oh yeah,” Shiro said, deadly serious. “Hunk makes noises in his sleep and Lance is a cuddler.” 

“Whereas Shiro just lays there like he’s a log and wakes up way too easily,” Hunk said drily. 

“And I maintain that being cuddled awake is far more pleasant than the thrashing you would get sleeping next to Pidge,” Lance protested, crossing his arms. 

“It still ruins a good night’s sleep, Lance,” Shiro said gently. “And it does make some people uncomfortable. Not everyone has… however many siblings you have again. I forget.” 

“I’ve also had to share with cousins and in more recent times, my nieces and nephews,” Lance reminds Shiro. 

“Right. Point is, not everyone is used to being curled up with several other people in their space. Anyway, watches. Any reason we should deviate from the normal order of things?” 

Both Hunk and Lance shook their heads. 

“Alright. Hunk, I’ll wake you at one, wake Lance at four, Lance, wake us all up at seven.” 

Hunk and Lance nodded in confirmation. The three younger boys all brushed their teeth and got ready for bed. As they lay there, trying to sleep, Keith realized he hadn’t done anything like this in a while. Like sleepovers or anything like that. Back in middle school, his friends had all agreed that sleepovers are girly and it would be awkward. And then in ninth grade Keith had come out to them and made things even more awkward. His friends weren’t exactly keen on sharing a room with him after that. 

Just like these bodyguards probably wouldn’t want to be near Keith if they knew. 

* * *

The teams Coran sent out had been making regular reports. So far, there hadn’t been any good news. 

There hadn’t been any trace of Keith Kogane or the missing bodyguards. Blaytz’s team had been checking hotels, but it was hard to get a lead when they didn’t want to risk tipping the Galra off in any way, and equally hard to search every single hotel. Coran was thinking that tomorrow he’d have to ask Sam Holt to start hacking into hotel records to look for the five, and possibly try and get ahold of their camera footage. 

Trigel had reported signs of Galra movement along the route she and her team had taken. Gyrgan had talked to some truckers and found out that the Galra had been pulling them over and searching their cargo. Allura hadn’t had anything to report, other than all the things she was planning on doing to “those idiots” when she found them. In other words, Allura was worried. And she wasn’t the only one. 

Coran had spent the entire day alternating between jumping to answer the phone when it rang, hoping it was news, and retreating into the bathroom to cry when the phone rang, terrified that there would be news. He wanted so badly to hear that everyone was found safe and sound, but feared that he would instead receive news that the car they’d been in would be found, crashed on the side of the road and empty save for the bloodstains, or worse, with the bodies of his four employees and one missing client. 

It didn’t help that the main distraction Coran could think of at the moment was to practice his speeches for delivering the news of their deaths to the families of his employees. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Garrett, I am so sorry to inform you that your son was killed in the line of action. He died bravely, and with great honor. His loss pains me greatly, and-” 

“Mr. and Mrs. McClain, and all the little McClains, I regret to inform you that Lance has fallen. If there is anything I can do for you in these rough times-” 

“Sam, Matt, Christie, I’m so sorry.” 

Coran never got to Shiro, but it didn’t matter since Shiro was alone. By the time he got that far, he was already a blubbering mess. He loved those kids. Most of his employees came to him fairly late in life, their twenties at the youngest. But he’d known Pidge since she was born, and Hunk had been with the agency for eleven years and Lance for ten. Coran had long ago realized that this agency was his home, the bodyguards he hired were his family, and Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were, if not his children, his beloved nieces and nephews, who he wanted to spoil rotten. He had been watching them grow for years, and like all proud relatives, he expected them to go far. But if they got on the wrong side of the Galra, the only place they’d be going was the afterlife. 

And Shiro… Shiro hadn’t been around quite as long as the kids, but he’d also been hired fairly young, at just sixteen. Shiro had been so wild back then, a fighter who everyone feared but Alfor and Coran saw a need in him and chose to nurture him, helping Shiro go from angry champion to one of the best bodyguards Coran had ever seen, rivalling even the great Alfor Regis. He had spent many nights at Coran’s house, training, learning to be a better guard and a better human, and talking with Coran. Sometimes Shiro would talk about how things had been for him before he was brought to the agency. Sometimes Shiro would just listen as Coran told stories of his own. And sometimes they would spend all night exchanging jokes and puns until Allura, who would inevitably be staying up with them because she didn’t trust Shiro much in the early days, would start making threats to try and shut them up. Perhaps that was part of the reason for the early animosity Allura had for Shiro, since Shiro tended to respond by making puns about her threats and the two of them would go back and forth until Coran pretended to be tired so that one of them would have to escort him to his room. 

Coran isn’t scared. He is panicked, terrified, absolutely out of his mind. Scared is far too flimsy a word for the feelings that are choking him. He believes in Shiro and Pidge and Hunk and Lance. But he also knows that the Galra will stop at nothing to take their enemies down.


	5. Magic in the Air

There was a strong smell of bacon frying as Keith was shaken awake. 

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacy,” Lance practically sang. He looked way too awake for someone Keith knew hadn’t gotten a full night’s rest. But then again, Lance had been awake for a few hours by then. Still, if Lance was a morning person, that might be enough of a minus to help Keith get rid of the godforsaken crush he had on the guy. Or it might if he could stop thinking of how good Lance looked even at asscrack o’clock in the morning. 

Keith hauled himself out of his sleeping bag, and with a magnificent effort, joined the others outside the tent. He managed to mumble out a response to Hunk’s question of how he liked his eggs- scrambled- and then Shiro, Saint Shiro, God bless the man because he is the best, took Keith to go wash his face. 

Washing his face was perhaps not the proper term. He really just splashed water on it, but it was the one thing that always woke him up in the morning. He could drink coffee or do exercise or anything, but unless he splashed water on his face, he’d be sleepy all day. He also went to use the latrine, and afterwards, he and Shiro returned to their camp just as Hunk was finishing up Keith’s eggs. And if Shiro was a saint, then Hunk was probably a demigod of some sort, because the eggs were so fluffy and divine and with a breakfast that good, it felt like all was right in the world. What a shame Keith knew that wasn’t true. 

After they’d eaten and Hunk had wrapped up an egg sandwich for Pidge, they packed up the camp and headed back down the trail to the car. Pidge was still fast asleep in the front seat when they got there, but a quick knock on the window had her up and unlocking the car before crawling into her spot in the back seat. While Shiro and Lance loaded the trunk, Hunk moved his seat up so that Lance would have more than two inches of legroom, and then they were all in the car and buckled up and on the move. 

They drove for about an hour before pulling off the highway, and from there they drove another ten minutes before they stopped in a parking lot outside a large building that had all five of them starstruck. The National Science Museum. 

There were other science museums out there, but as far as any of them were concerned, this was the only one that mattered. This was the one that housed a functioning vintage computer. The one that contained salvaged parts of actual spacecraft. The one that had one of the sweetest volcano simulations ever, and had various interactive exhibits and it was a nerd paradise. It took all their impulse control not to run in. Well, that and also there was a line at the ticket window. Other people liked this place too. 

They finally got their tickets, four adult tickets and one child ticket that the cashier assumed was for Pidge but was actually for Shiro, and entered the atrium. Shiro began to ask where they should go first, but Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all relentlessly plowed forward, dragging Keith with them and leaving Shiro in the dust as they charged towards the dinosaur exhibit first. 

The dinosaur exhibit had something for all of them. Pidge and Hunk ogled the robotic dinosaurs on display, Lance cood about how cute they were, and drew Keith into an argument about what their names should be. When Shiro caught up, he went and stared at the fossils. The rest of them eventually joined him. Keith imagined what it would be like to see such beasts in reality, and wasn’t sure whether to be awed or intimidated. Like, any one of those things could kill him easily, whether by accidentally trampling him or deliberately tearing him to shreds to eat him. But they’re just so amazing. 

After the dinosaurs, they moved on into the volcano exhibit, and Hunk started gushing out facts. Lance and Pidge got vague looks on their faces, effortlessly tuning Hunk out with the ease of practice. But Keith listened in, and so did more than a few passers-by, as Hunk talked about silica-rich felsic and iron-rich mafic and round shield volcanoes and cinder cone volcanoes, and about how pumice apparently floated on water, and a bunch of other geological things that Keith didn’t really understand but still found interesting. From there they went into a weather section, and then they took a turn that led them into a section on evolution. 

After the evolution section, they ended up in a section on technological development, and that’s where they lost Pidge. The moment she set eyes on the place she squealed and rushed forward and all but glued herself to the first display. At that moment, Keith happened to glance over at Lance, and happened to see when Lance rolled his eyes at Hunk, who shrugged back in understanding. Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Shiro all moved ahead, checking out the displays but not trying to memorize them like Pidge was. When they’d seen all they cared to, Shiro doubled back to tell Pidge they’d be moving on, and then the four boys head into the space section. 

The space section of the museum sucked them all in as if it were a vacuum cleaner. Hunk went to admire a model of the Mars Rover, and Keith could just see his hands twitching from the effort not to touch it. Shiro idled his way over to a display on spaceships. Keith almost joined him there, but then he saw Lance ducking into an area dedicated to the Solar system and its planets. Keith followed after Lance and found Lance playing with some scales that gave a person’s weight on the different planets. Keith joined him, and together they laughed about how heavy they would be on some of the planets thanks to the increased gravity. When Lance moved on to read about atmospheric conditions and whatnot, Keith stayed near him, not really reading the displays like Lance was but still finding things of interest in them, like trying to find the sites of the alleged lunar landings on the one chart of the moon, and letting his gaze go unfocused to see if he saw any interesting shapes in the swirls of Jupiter’s atmosphere. He didn’t, which was a bummer. 

And then the two of them entered a darkened tunnel dedicated to the constellations. 

It was amazing. Each constellation had its own space on the ceiling, with little screens below that named the stars in the constellation, and told some of the stories behind the constellation across cultures. Keith wanted to just stand there in the entryway all day, and Lance seemed a little inclined to do the same. 

“Aren’t the stars so beautiful?” Lance whispered, awe in his voice. 

“Yeah…” Keith replied. And then he made the mistake of looking at Lance and almost had to shove a fist in his mouth to stop himself from adding a cheesy _“Especially the ones in your eyes.”_ Keith suddenly didn’t feel like standing around anymore, and hurried over to the first display. It was a little hard to read it though when Lance followed and stood beside him. As in, Keith kept reading and re-reading the same sentence over and over and not absorbing a single word of it. He was beyond grateful when Shiro came and found them there, and informed them that Hunk wanted to get lunch. 

They ate lunch at a snack bar, and Hunk tried his best not to make faces as they ordered a giant platter of nachos to split between the five of them. But despite Hunk’s standards, he still ended up eating almost twice as much as any of the rest of them. He argued that his metabolism required him to eat a lot, but even Keith could tell that Hunk not-so-secretly liked the nachos. Well, they were pretty good. Who would have expected a science museum to have such wonderful queso? 

After lunch was consumed, they went to watch a chemistry demo in which several chemical reactions were shown to the audience to entertain them. Once the demonstration was over, Hunk and Pidge accosted the staff members who had done the demo, asking difficult questions and making suggestions and generally overwhelming the poor workers. Lance chipped in a bit too, though everything he said was so obviously nonsense that no one paid him any mind. 

It took a while before the staff members managed to escape Pidge and Hunk. Once they were clear, the group of five went over to the children’s section of the museum, dedicated to fun exhibits kids could play on and enjoy. There was a table of magnetic sand that functioned somewhat like a giant etch-a-sketch, an exhibit on sound that allowed for experiments on pitch, flight simulators, tangrams, a station on Rube Goldberg devices, and a racetrack for remote-controlled cars. Keith perused the area, not sure where to go, when he saw the thing he knew he had to try: the bubble zone. 

Apparently the bodyguards all had the same idea- either that or they were suddenly more concerned about him than before- because when he went in and picked up a ridiculously complex bubble wand meant to create several different bubbles of varying sizes at once, Pidge was right behind him examining the ingredients on a tube of “touch-a-bubbles” and Shiro was blowing bubbles from a little jar and looking like Christmas came early and Hunk was muttering something about creating a bubble inside a bubble and Lance was- 

Keith dropped his bubble wand when he saw Lance with a large stick with some straps that he was circling around himself and making a giant bubble with. Lance disconnected the bubble and it hovered around him for a few seconds before Pidge idly came over and popped it. Lance made an indignant noise, but Keith was already scrambling over to him. 

“How did you do that?!” he demanded of Lance. 

“Huh? Oh I, uh, I just used the wand?” 

“Can I try? Please?” 

“Sure.” Lance readily handed over the wand. Keith took it eagerly, dipped it in the bubble bath, and began to circle it around himself. A bulge began to form, the beginnings of a bubble, but then it popped and bubble soap dripped off the wand. 

“Oh. Oh dear. No, not like that,” Lance said. He took the wand from Keith, and showed him how it was done. Keith tried to copy his motions, but his second attempt still popped before it really began. For his third try, Lance stood close behind him and guided his hands. Miraculously, the bubble didn’t pop. And it really was a miracle, since Keith was feeling completely electrified by the presence of the cute guy so close behind him that his hands had to have been shaking like crazy. 

Keith stared in awe at the bubble they had made, admiring its iridescent sheen as it drifted awkwardly above the ground. It was so ungainly, yet so beautiful. 

He was glad he’d come to this museum, and on this day with these people. It was one of those days where things weren’t perfect, but he just felt so content with the way things were that it was as close to perfection as could be. Nothing could spoil this moment for him. A bird could come poop on him, the Velociraptor robot could come to life and bite off his arm, he could trip over air and fall on his face like an idiot and it would still be a wonderful day. 

The moment ended when a couple of children ran shrieking into the children’s sections and the bubble popped as the quiet mood was shattered. Without a word, the five of them put their bubble wands away and headed for the building exit. They got in the car and hit the road, driving until they were another two hours closer to Marmora. 

* * *

They ordered some Chinese take-out for dinner that night. They spent a few minutes arguing over what dishes to get, since it all sounded so delicious. Lance went to go pick it up, and once he returned, they sat down to eat, splitting up their fried rice and chow fun and spring rolls as evenly as they could. They ate on the floor of their latest hotel room, which looked much like the first except that it had a window seat. A window seat which Keith had been banned from for safety reasons, which he was still sour about. 

All seemed well. Or it did until an unfortunate topic came up. 

“We should probably consider disguises,” Lance said, struggling to get his chopsticks to work long enough for him to pick up a stray bit of beef. “It would suck if we took all these precautions but then got caught because we’re too recognizable.” 

“Good point, but why didn’t you say something before now?” Shiro asked. 

“Because I didn’t think of it before now. But while I was out for the food, I went ahead and made a stop at the drugstore, and I think I have everything we’ll need.” 

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Pidge asked. 

“Probably because you’ve maintained that same look since you were two, and that is exactly the problem right now,” Lance replied offhand, not missing a beat as he produced a plastic bag and began taking out items. “Which is why you get to go first, Pidginator. Come on. Hunk, if you please?” 

Lance led the way to the bathroom, towing a scowling Pidge. Hunk followed after taking a moment to shove a few more bites of food in his mouth and snag the extra spring roll. The bathroom door closed, and Keith and Shiro continued their meal in a peace that did not last very long, as about a minute later there was a lot of angry shouting coming from the bathroom. Keith looked up, alarmed, and then looked to Shiro to handle the situation. Shiro, however, ignored the noise, calmly moving fried rice from his bowl to his mouth with perfect precision. 

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Keith asked, somewhat panicked. 

“Oh, I’m sure everything’s fine,” Shiro said, unconcerned. “And if it’s not, that’s too bad because I’m not doing anything until I’ve finished my dinner.” 

“I keep forgetting that despite outward appearances, you are not in fact the adult of this bunch.” 

“Well I am only 6 years old,” Shiro said, a smug smile crossing his face as he continued to look only at his food. “That’s the beauty of being born on leap day. It’s the perfect cop out to avoid adulting.” 

“Hold still!” Lance’s voice yelled from the bathroom. 

“Never!” Pidge shrieked back. “Death before dishonor!” 

Keith was more than a little afraid at that point. 

Twenty minutes of screeching later, a triumphant shout was heard, followed by a wail, and then eerie silence that put Keith even more on edge. Then, a moment later, the bathroom door opened, and someone toddled out, a pained expression on their face. Keith only recognized Pidge by the size and skin tone. Hunk followed after her, looking just as drained as she did, and then Lance appeared in the doorway, holding a pair of scissors and wearing a shit-eating grin. 

“Alright, who’s next?” he asked. 

In the end, Shiro consented to go next. When he came out of the bathroom, his hair had been buzzed short on the sides and in the back, leaving the top a little longer but not by much. He had make-up covering his scar. 

Hunk was next. Lance somehow managed to tease his hair up into a man bun, and said if that didn’t work, Hunk could always wear a headband. Keith hoped he would be allowed to get away with something similar, but there was no such luck for him. 

“Come on, Keith,” Lance said. “Time for a long overdo trim.” 

“But-” Keith protested. 

“But nothing. A mullet is far too recognizable in this day and age. You can grow it back later.” 

Keith whined a bit more as Lance led him into the bathroom. It wasn’t exactly that he was against the haircut. He’d been thinking for a while that he needed one, but had just had other things that were more important. But getting a haircut from Lance? That just seemed like a bad idea. Not because he didn’t trust Lance with scissors. He’d done an okay enough job with Pidge and Shiro that Keith didn’t think he would do anything godawful to Keith’s hair. But the idea of a guy he was attracted to so close behind him and playing with his hair? Nope. Not a good plan. 

It ended up happening anyway. Lance apologized the whole time, constantly reminding him that he’d be too easy to spot with his former hairstyle. Keith watched as Lance evened out his hair, making it shorter and shorter until he had to blink at the person in the mirror. Keith wasn’t sure he liked it, but he wasn’t sure he disliked it either. It would just take some getting used to. 

After they came out, Lance went back to the remains of their dinner to snag a fortune cookie, setting down his supplies on the way. This did not go unnoticed by Pidge, who was glaring furiously at Lance, apparently unhappy with her new look. 

“And what about you? What’s your disguise?” she grumbled. “Gonna shave your head, McClain?” 

“Are you kidding?” Lance asked, incredulous. “My mom would kill me!” 

“And my mom’s probably gonna die when she sees this!” Pidge exclaimed, pointing with both hands to her scalp. “She gonna laugh so hard she dies, and it’ll be all your fault!” 

“Pidge, please, it was necessary. We need to assume the Galra know who Keith’s bodyguards are. Which means they will know to look for a group of five, four guys and one girl. But with your hair like that, they will hopefully see a group that is five guys.” 

“Fine, I’ll concede your point, however, they will also know what you look like, and your hair’s too short to do much with other than shave off completely. Are you going to dye it?” 

“Again, my mom would pitch a fit. Relax, I’ve got this.” Lance brandished a beanie, then put it on, pulling it back on his head so it was only about half on. “I’ll put a little gel in to spike it as well, but the hat should do the trick,” Lance said. 

“Oh my god. I get it now,” Pidge said, eyes wide. “You’re trying to turn us all into hipsters.” 

“You got me. My evil plans have all been foiled,” Lance deadpanned. “Whatever shall I do?” 

“Not make evil plans without me next time, duh.” 

Keith had to hide a smile at that. They cleaned up the remains of their dinner, and Lance went to sweep up the hair he’d trimmed off everyone, and then they all got ready for bed. 

It was only when the lights were out and Keith was snuggled deep in the warm bed that he realized he had made a terrible mistake that day. He’d meant to spend the day looking for Lance’s faults, to help him get over his crush. But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d noticed a few things that were rather endearing. He’d have to try harder tomorrow. 

* * *

On the evening of the third day, Coran held a conference call with Allura, Gyrgan, Trigel, Blaytz, and Sam Holt. Even though he’d been getting reports from them all day, as soon as the last phone connected, he began with “Has anyone found anything yet? Please tell me you’ve found something, anything!” 

There was a long and pregnant silence, the kind that said all too clearly what the answer was, but finally Gyrgan spoke up. 

“Sorry sir, nothing.” 

“Well you know what they say,” Blaytz said, his tone forcibly light and playful, “no news is good news, right?” 

“Not necessarily,” Allura sighed, ever the realist. Or the pessimist. In their line of work, pessimism often was realism. “If the Galra caught them, they might take their time deciding how best to deal with them, which would lead to no news.” 

“Y-yeah, but no news could mean other things too,” Blaytz said, because despite their line of work he was an optimist. “L-like… Like maybe they found their way into hiding! Or maybe they managed to give the Galra the slip and make it to Marmora!” 

“Unlikely,” Trigel said. 

“Perhaps not to Marmora. But maybe to some temporary safety?” Coran said, though it came out like a question. “Allura, contact their former clients. Any that you think they might turn to and who might let them in. It’s unlikely, but they might have sought refuge with one of them.” 

“I’ll do that first thing tomorrow. It’s late enough that people won’t want to be bothered,” Allura sighed. 

“Good. Sam, you know what I need of you?” Coran asked. 

“Yes sir.” 

“Good.” 

“Sir, do you want me to go back to searching the roads then?” Blaytz asked. 

“No, Blaytz, keep asking around. Trigel, you go ahead to Marmora and start searching there in the same way.” 

“Isn’t that spreading ourselves a bit thin?” Gyrgan asked. 

“It is, but we don’t have much of a choice,” Allura said, defending the boss’s decision. “There are so many routes they could take. Even if we search the most direct routes, we might miss them, and they could easily have taken a more circuitous route. They may even have started off in the wrong direction as a feint.” 

“That could explain why we haven’t heard anything yet,” Blaytz said, his optimism back. 

“It could, but it’s impossible to be certain unless we find them. We really cannot know what they are thinking.” 

“Now there’s a question,” Coran sighed. “What were they thinking? WHAT were they THINKING?! Don’t they have any idea how dangerous this is?! Are they trying to get themselves killed? We would have handled it, so what possessed them to get involved?” 

“Well the answer to that is quite simple,” Trigel answered, even though it had been a series of rhetorical questions. “Lance, Pidge, and Hunk are all young, and prone to poor decisions. As a collective, they are extremely impulsive, and Shiro, unfortunately, does nothing to curb them. He’s too soft on them. I said it from the start that I thought making those three into a team would be a disaster, and when it was suggested that Shiro join them I said it again then. They would do better with stricter, more regulated guidance, such as with us.” 

“Dibs on Hunk,” Gyrgan said. “He always was the most sensible of the bunch.” 

“Trigel, as I have explained in the past, the reasoning behind that team was age,” Coran said. “They can blend in easier with younger clients. Should a client wish for their teenager to be protected, it is much less intrusive to have their bodyguards be their classmates than to have a team of adults hovering over the client through their classes.” 

“And I argue that your point is moot since most of the clients within their age range have sent them back along with reviews calling them ‘irredeemable losers’, ‘hopeless dorks’, ‘absolute nerds’, ‘total geeks’, and other such insults. They embarrass their clients, and are just as disruptive as a team of adult guards would be. Furthermore, I submit that split up and paired with more responsible teammates, they could still participate in a classroom setting while the rest of the team kept their distance. In fact, such tactics would be more efficient, as we could protect more young clients.” 

“Trigel, please,” Allura said. “Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all know each other. They know how to work together. Shiro said they have some of the best teamwork he’s seen. To split them up would be to waste that functionality, not to mention the stress it would cause them. They are teenagers, so to be placed on a team full of adults, they might not feel comfortable speaking up when they feel something is wrong, despite the fact that they have more experience than many of our adult employees, and sharper instincts too.” 

“Be that as it may, perhaps we should reassign them to different teams once this is all over. Assuming they survive, that is.” 

“They’re some tough kids,” Blaytz said. “Of course they’ll survive.” 

Coran only hoped that Blaytz was right.


	6. Adventuring/ Coran's Guide to (Not) Coping with Stress

The fourth day of their road trip started off pretty uneventful. They went to a nearby zoo, and spent the whole day wandering through the different exhibits, with the bodyguards pointing at different animals and comparing them to each other. 

“Hey Pidge, that baboon looks as grumpy as you do!” 

“Hey Lance, that elephant’s ears are almost as big as yours!” 

“Hey Hunk, that hyena hunches almost as badly as you do!” 

“Hey Shiro, that lion looks almost as tired as you!” 

Was Keith pleased when they included him, telling him that the penguins looked almost as stiff as him, and had about the same coloring? Yes he was. But only a little. 

After the zoo, they stopped for gas. Pidge went in to buy a candy bar, and came out looking more spooked than Lance had been back at Thayserix Springs. 

“Guys, we gotta go. Now,” she said. 

“What’s wrong,” Shiro asked quietly. 

“The guy at the counter was looking at me funny. And he had a gun in his waistband. I think he was Galra.” 

No more words were spoken as Shiro stopped the gas pump and went to pay for the half-gallon of gas they’d gotten. And then they were all in the car and on the move again, despite the fact that the gas gauge was not too far from empty. 

At first, Keith assumed they’d just go to the next gas station, but they passed it without even slowing down. The same went for the next, and the next, and Keith began counting until they had passed at least eight different gas stations and the needle on the gauge was dipping alarmingly low. 

“Um, shouldn’t we stop for gas?” Keith asked. 

“Not yet,” Shiro replied tersely. “We can make it a little farther.” 

Keith was inclined to disagree, except on either side of him, he could feel Pidge and Lance, so tense they were almost vibrating. He could see them all staring out the windows intently, looking for signs of trouble. And if Keith looked up at the rearview mirror, Shiro’s eyes would glance up at it every other second, spending almost as much time looking behind them as looking at the road ahead. Hunk was even whimpering softly. Keith had thought that Pidge was just being overly cautious, that there was no way she would have been recognized with her short hair, but now he wondered if he was wrong. 

They finally cruised into a gas station on fumes, and Hunk went inside to use the bathroom and reported that the clerk inside had barely even looked at him. They filled up the tank without incident. The only other car that pulled into the pumps while they were there was a minivan filled with screaming kids and a harrassed-looking soccer mom. And somehow, when they pulled out and no one was trying to stop them and no one was following them, the tension left the bodyguards, so that Keith was the only one who remained highly strung. 

The hotel they booked into that night had a couch with a fold-out bed as well as the two queen-sized mattresses, a recliner, and a divan. It was super fancy, and Keith was scared to touch anything, especially with his residual tension from the gas station panic. It made the bodyguards joke that they’d already swept for bombs, so there weren’t any booby traps to be afraid of, but it was only after they started to threaten to set up actual booby traps if he didn’t calm down that he did finally relax a bit. 

Keith still wasn’t doing very well with his goal of finding Lance’s bad points. There was something sweet about the way he was at the zoo, gently speaking to any animals that were near the fences, apologizing to them for their captivity and expressing hopes that they were well cared for, sometimes asking what kinds of things they did for fun or telling lame jokes or saying how beautiful they were. Keith was beginning to think Lance found everything beautiful: he believed there was beauty there no matter what, and searched until he saw it. If that was true, then Keith wondered what kind of beauty Lance might see in him. 

On the fifth day, Keith was awoken by a very cheerful Lance, who called him “Starshine” while he chirped out a good morning. Keith hated Lance in that moment- hated how being woken up like that actually made him want to get out of bed faster. 

Everyone seemed to be perfectly chipper that morning, and it made Keith wonder if they’d already forgotten about the incident the day before. He was amazed at how easily they could shrug that off, and tried to follow suit, though with limited success. 

Keith had no idea what the day’s plans were, as no one would tell him. It was apparently a surprise of some sort. All they would say is that he should wear long sleeves and dark colors. Meanwhile, Hunk made towering stacks of pancakes for each of them, and insisted that all the pancakes be eaten. Keith was worried he would explode before he managed to finish his, but he got the pancakes down without such an incident. After breakfast, they drove for half an hour before pulling onto a dirt road, following it to a grassy clearing where a few other cars were parked. Along one edge of the clearing were lined several ATVs. 

“Okay, how many are we renting?” Shiro asked. 

“Lance’s driving scares me, so four,” Hunk said. 

“Hey, I resent that!” Lance protested, leaning across Keith to poke his head into the front seat. Keith tried not to be too flustered. “I am an excellent driver!” 

“Sure, you don’t crash, but that doesn’t change the fact that my life flashes before my eyes every time!” Hunk said, defending his stance. 

“Boys, knock it off,” Shiro ordered, quelling more arguments from Lance. Lance leaned back with a sigh, arms crossed. 

“But why four though?” Keith asked. “Why not one for each of us.” 

“For safety’s sake, one of us needs to be with you,” Shiro said. 

“Yeah, and besides, Pidge can’t drive,” Lance said. 

“Like, at all,” Hunk agreed. 

“Maybe not, but I can program other things to do the driving for me,” Pidge said, annoyance clear in her voice. 

“Yeah, but with the new haircut, you look like, 12,” Hunk said. “So there’s no way they’d let you on one of those alone, even if you actually could drive. Liability and all that.” 

At the mention of her haircut, Pidge glared daggers at Lance. 

“How about we just go already?” Lance suggested, sensing the danger. The five of them got out of the car and locked it behind them, then headed over to a small stand with prices listed. After a brief exchange of information, Shiro signed some forms and then handed over a card that was swiped, and then they were being given four sets of keys with little number tags attached. They went to the ATVs that had numbers painted on that matched their tags, and mounted up, heading for a trail. As they started down the trail, Shiro called above the noise of the engines “Now remember, stick together!” 

“Awwwwwww,” Lance whined. “But Hunk drives like a ninety-year-old grandma!” 

“I do not! I simply follow the law, Lance!” 

“The law does not state that you should drive ten miles below speed limit, Hunk!” 

Shiro muttered something that Keith couldn’t quite heat over the engines, but which he suspected was “Why did I sign up for this?” or perhaps “Why do I put up with this?” 

Despite Shiro’s insistence on staying together, Lance started pulling ahead before long. When Shiro tried to call him back, Lance claimed he was scouting the path ahead. But it was obvious that he just wanted a bit more speed, and Keith couldn’t blame him. The pace they had set felt like that of a snail. And if Keith was correct, then if he sped up, the others would have to as well. He was the client after all. 

Keith opened up his the throttle, letting himself pick up speed. He ignored Shiro’s warning as he surged forward, closing the distance between him and Lance. Lance heard him coming and picked up speed as well. Keith followed suit, causing Lance to gain more speed, which Keith retaliated, each urging the other to go faster and faster until Pidge was clinging to Keith with a death grip and they could her Hunk whining behind them, “This isn’t safe!” as they careened down the path. Keith and Lance were neck and neck, with Shiro following just behind them, not participating in their impromptu race but easily keeping up. 

And then, all too soon, they were arriving at a clearing and skidding to a stop among other parked ATVs. Lance pulled up first, while Keith waited until the last second to whip into a skid, causing Pidge to scream as their vehicle stopped just short of another. A piece of paper would have fit between the two ATVs, but not much more than that. It was perfect, and the way Lance’s jaw hung open was even better than Keith had hoped for. He’d totally won that one. 

“I totally won that race,” he said, smirking. 

“Wha- Ra- Wh-who said anything about a race?” 

“Dude, that was totally a race, and you know it. And I won.” 

Lance scowled, and it was adorable. 

“Fine. You won. But I’m winning the next one, trust me.” 

“In your dreams. You may be an excellent driver, but I am a superb one. Stupendous even. I will always win.” 

“Who said I was talking about driving? I meant the next challenge. It just happens to be my specialty, so you are so going down.” 

As if Keith hadn’t gone down already. He had lost practically the moment he set eyes on Lance. He was slowly realizing his defeat was inevitable. 

The next challenge turned out to be paintball. That was what they had driven out to, a paintball range. They went and rented their rifles, got masks, and bought some ammo. It was Keith’s first time playing paintball, so he went with Pidge to a practice range to take a few shots. He was able to hit their targets fairly easily. This didn’t seem like it would be too hard. 

They were split into teams, and Lance wound up on the opposite team. As they split up to head to their different bases, Lance gave Keith a cocky wave. He seemed to think he had this made. Keith was going to prove him wrong. 

The round began, and Keith moved forward, advancing cautiously while keeping an eye out for the enemy team, particularly for Lance. He managed to shoot down a couple of enemies. The round ticked on, getting closer and closer to completion, and he had yet to see Lance. Had that guy been taken out already? And he’d been so confident. 

And suddenly there was a blob of paint on Keith’s chest, just above his heart, and a few teammates who were behind the same bunker were also hit. Keith looked up, confused, just in time to see Lance, striding along the enemy defenses, shooting as he went and not missing a single shot. 

Shit. Lance was right. He would definitely win this challenge. 

Lance only played every few rounds, saying he didn’t want to take away the fun from the other players. Whenever he did play, he made certain he and Keith were on opposing teams. Keith relished the fact that Lance was so intent on competing with him, but he did feel kinda sad that they couldn’t work together on this. They would make a great team, he thought. Practically unstoppable. 

At one point Hunk practically flattened Keith because he thought he saw someone with a real gun, but it was just his mind playing tricks on him. It seemed the gas station incident hadn’t been forgotten after all. He managed to make his tackle look like tripping rather than a deliberate takedown, and apologized loudly to Keith afterwards for “his clumsiness”. 

Shortly after Hunk’s mishap, they took a nice long lunch break before returning for a few more rounds. It got to the point where the team Lance wasn’t on would devote their all to taking him out. But not matter what they tried, it never worked. Lance was too good a shot, and he was pretty good at dodging too. Shouldn’t someone like him have had some sort of handicap while playing? 

The final round was an elimination round. It was essentially a free-for-all, and no one was surprised in the least when Lance won. Shiro did manage to give him a run for his money, but eventually Lance managed to land a spectacularly unlikely shot to Shiro’s chest, painting Shiro’s lapels bright blue. 

The ride back to the lot where they’d left the car was a lot more subdued. No racing this time, since they were all tired. Pidge even fell asleep against Keith’s back, though her grip did not slacken at all when she did. If anything, it got tighter. 

They stopped at a sushi bar for dinner, then headed off to their next hotel. Keith pitied whoever had the first watch of the night, since they were all tired. He knew without a doubt that once his head hit the pillow he would be lights out, and he assumed the others felt much the same. 

* * *

Coran was coping very well with the circumstances, thank you very much. Of course he was. He was a professional after all, he knew what he was doing, everything was fine, everything was okay, no need to panic. 

It was the fifth day already, and still there was no news. But there was nothing to worry about! Those kids could handle themselves. Just like Alfor could handle himself, and still got killed by the Galra, and oh quiznak they were going to get killed! No, no they weren’t, he was overreacting. No need to be concerned, no need to worry, no need to panic, and definitely no need to start stress eating, which is why it was not Coran who just ate five pounds of jello in as many hours. Nope. That was someone else. More than one someone else. Yes, it must have been a pack of… of something that ate jello. Rats maybe. He’d have to have Allura call an exterminator. Except Allura wasn’t there. She was off searching for those rascals who had up and _betrayed_ him. How could they do this to him? He had practically raised them! 

Luckily for all involved, one of the former clients Allura had contacted was one Dr. Bethaneezer Bo Brachimanovskimarukovitchson, known more commonly as Dr. B. Bo B., or Bo to his friends. A psychologist and licensed therapist, Bo hung around and listened to Coran rant, and tried to discourage him from ordering a set of giant inflatable lions to be the new company mascots, and coaxed him into spending a relaxing two hours in a hot tub, and generally reigned in Coran’s crazy impulses that took over when he was in a panic. Which Coran was not. In a panic, that is. Coran was not in a panic, because there was absolutely nothing to panic about, nooooo. 

Given the state of things, Allura was giving out the orders, and had sent her team to continue without her while she returned home and began taking precautions. The longer things drew out, the more likely it was that the Galra would catch wind of precisely who was escorting Keith and giving them so much trouble, and the more likely it was that the Galra would retaliate the way they knew best: by hurting those their targets cared for. It was why they were after Keith in the first place. There was no doubt that as their frustrations grew, they would turn to the families of his bodyguards, and as such, those families needed to be protected. 

Of course convincing people to go into hiding for an indefinite period of time was not easy. The Holts, of course, knew the risks, and were quick to comply. This ended up being a saving grace, as Mrs. Holt had decided in her youth that being a bodyguard was not for her and had instead gone on to be a schoolteacher. The Garretts and McClains had other children besides Lance and Hunk, and were much more comfortable letting them skip school if there would still be a teacher around to make sure they didn’t fall behind on assignments. It took some adjustments, but Allura managed to arrange for all three families to be protected. 

That was one concern down, but there were still many, many more things to worry about. Still, Allura was her father’s daughter. She could do anything if she put her mind to it. 

* * *

No one woke Keith up on the sixth morning. He instead woke to light shining onto his face and the sound of some sort of ringtone. 

“Guys, Matt’s calling!” Pidge called, and there was a small stampede as Lance, Hunk, and Shiro all headed towards her. Keith sat up, praying his bedhead wasn’t too bad, only to remember he had short hair now. He peered over at where a face similar to Pidge’s was appearing on her laptop screen. 

“Woah, Pidge-o-tron, nice hair,” were the first words out of Matt’s mouth, and Shiro instantly grabbed Pridge’s arm, ready to twist it behind her to prevent murder as necessary. 

“We’re trying to be incognito here,” Lance said, eyeing Pidge carefully to see how likely it was that she would escape Shiro. 

“Smart.” 

“So how is everything?” Hunk asked. “Pidge said you’d emailed her that you had news.” 

Matt’s face fell. 

“Yeah, I have news. So, uh, first off, you guys seem to be in the clear for now. The search parties haven’t picked up on anything, even dad hasn’t managed to catch onto your tracks, so you’re doing good there. The Galra have mobilized some, but so far they don’t seem to have caught onto you either, since they’re still doing truck searches.” 

“That’s good, but what else?” Shiro said. 

“Um, well, Coran’s about as good as you might expect him to be. Allura’s taken over at this point and actually called down ol’ B. Bo B. to look after him.” 

“Guess Coran’s in good hands then,” Hunk laughed. 

“Yeah…” Matt laughed nervously. 

“Anything else?” Pidge asked. She knew her brother too well to not know when he was hiding something. 

“Uhhhh well, we’ve been having some really nice weather lately, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, Allura had all your family members go into hiding to keep them safe while you gallivant around the countryside, I saw an albino squirrel yesterday, the-” 

“Waitwaitwait. What was that about our families?” Lance asked, pressing close to the computer screen. 

Matt sighed. 

“Allura had them go into hiding.” 

Lance fell back onto his heels, looking shocked. 

“Shit,” he whispered. “Shit, shit, shit!” 

“Everything’s fine,” Matt insisted. “It’s just a precaution!” 

“There’s no way my parents would ever agree to go into hiding though!” Lance cried. “My dad won’t let his clients down by failing to meet deadlines, and he can’t take his carpentry with him, and my mom takes her job so seriously, she would still try and head in for her shift even if she was on her deathbed!” 

“We’ve got it covered,” Matt soothed. “Dad’s gotten himself assigned as your mom’s partner, and I get to hang out with your dad during the day as his new assistant. Though, speaking of which, what’s the difference between a jigsaw and a miter saw?” 

“Fuck. Not only did I sign us up for a job that is endangering our families, now Matt’s gonna lose a finger trying to use the wrong fucking saw. Just great,” Lance muttered to his knees. 

“Well if Matt loses a finger, I will forevermore be the family typing champ,” Pidge said. “Sounds good to me.” 

“But-!” 

“Lance,” Shiro said, letting go of Pidge. He had that dad look in his eye again, and Lance sighed. 

“You guys were right,” Lance said in a small voice. “I never think things through.” 

“Sure you do,” Hunk said. “When Pidge and I made those wings and decided to test them out, you were the one who had the first aid kit ready for when Pidge fell. We totally thought those would work, but you were ready in case they didn’t.” 

“And it’s not like any of us thought this far ahead either,” Pidge pointed out. “Luckily for us, Allura did. Everyone will be fine, Lance. It’s okay.” 

“Except this doesn’t end when the job does, Pidge. Do you really think the Galra are just gonna let this all blow over because we got Keith safely to Marmora?” 

“Erm, they might not let things blow over, but they might not be able to retaliate,” Keith found himself saying. Because what the heck. Why not tell them? 

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked. 

“Well, I sort of might be taking information about the Overlord, information that could get him arrested, to a group in Marmora that is dedicated to ending the Galra reign.” 

“Oh my fucking god, that’s fucking amazing,” Matt breathed. “And aw crap, I gotta go. Later.” 

The screen went black while the bodyguards stared at Keith. 

“Ho. Lee. Shit,” Lance said. “You are my hero, man.” 

“Amen to that,” Hunk agreed, nodding. 

“I knew I liked you,” Pidge said, a smile on her face. “If we all get out of this alive, I see a friendship between us all going far.” 

“That’s all well and good,” Shiro said in a dad voice, “but you really ought to have told us before now. It may not change the plan, since we were already on high alert about this, but that’s pretty critical information all the same.” 

“Oh please,” Lance snorted. “Shiro, lighten up. Clients keep shit from us all the time.” 

“Though it is usually, like, nonessential shit, y’know?” Hunk said. “Like, what’s their favorite food, or, I dunno, the password to their personal computer.” 

“Which I can totally figure out even if they don’t tell us,” Pidge said. 

“Shush, both of you,” Lance said. 

“I guess I kinda worried that if I told you, you’d be more hesitant to help,” Keith said, squirming a little with discomfort. “Like it’s one thing if the Galra are after me because of my parents. But if I actually know something myself? Like, I’m pretty sure they don’t know that I know, but still. That’s…” 

“Really dangerous?” Shiro suggested. “Keith, we’ve found, in our line of work, that once there’s danger involved, how much doesn’t really matter. Once the client’s life is at stake, then we have to be prepared to take any measure to protect it. It could be that there will be one small attempt to kill you, or there could be a constant unending stream of assassination attempts. Once someone wants you dead, we have to be ready for it all. And we are.” 

“Okay, but how do you know who the Overlord is, but without him knowing you know?” Hunk asked. 

“That’s…” Keith sighed. “I was in a tree.” 

“Why were you in a tree?” 

“Because it was the only way to get out of the house from the attic without going to the ground floor and getting caught by the guys who were down there.” 

“Why-” 

“How about you start this story from the beginning,” Shiro suggested. 

“Okay.” Keith hesitated, and then plunged right in. “I was up in the attic one day, looking for something to use as a costume for a skit for my drama class. I always get really bad stage fright, and was hoping a good costume might help my grade and… oh… not really relevant. Sorry. Anyway, I heard a bunch of cars on the driveway, and doors slamming, and I looked outside and there were all these people milling around and they went up to the front door and just… broke it down. I couldn’t see them do that, but I could hear it. And my parents were shouting, and then it just got quiet.” Keith shuddered. That sudden silence had been terrifying. 

“At that point, it was either fight or flight, and I didn’t think that scrawny teenage me could fight off a bunch of guys who could take on my two badass cop parents, so I chose flight, which meant climbing out the window I’d opened to let in some air and out onto the tree outside our house.” 

“Lucky that tree was there,” Pidge mumbled. 

“Yeah, it was. Because they had left some guys outside to stand guard. Though the one guy wasn’t really paying attention, he was playing games on his phone I think. But then a guy came outside and yelled at the guy on the phone, and then a third guy came out and said ‘The rest of the house is empty my lord,’ to the second guy, and the second guy called the third guy Sendak, and I realized that the second guy had to be the Overlord. My parents had been trying to find leads on him, and I guess maybe they got too close or something, because he came after them. He came after them _himself_. It had to be him, since Sendak is supposedly the only one who knows who the Overlord really is. But anyway, after that I saw them drag my parents out, and then as the Overlord was getting into his car, he paused to look back at the house, and I got a good look at this face.” 

“Dang,” Lance breathed. “That’s intense.” 

“Anyway, after they left, I waited a while and then headed to Coran’s on foot. The whole time I was convinced I wouldn’t even make it there.” 

“But you did, and now we’ll keep you safe,” Shiro said, putting a reassuring hand on Keith’s shoulder. “We’ll get you to Marmora.” 

“Speaking of getting to Marmora, I think it’s time we really hit the road,” Pidge said. “Because between home and Marmora is a thirty hour drive, and so far, we’ve covered maybe six. More like five and a half, if we’re being honest. So we’ve got a lot of road to cover, and while we do want to take our time, going too slow is just as likely to get us killed as going too fast. We can do some driving today, knock out maybe twelve hours if we really push, and then we’d be more than halfway. Sound good?” 

“We’d still have twelve to thirteen hours left, so it’s not like we’d be getting super close,” Hunk said. 

“Sounds good to me,” Keith said. “Unless you guys know something I don’t.” 

“Alright then. Driving it is,” Shiro said. 

They headed down to the hotel’s breakfast bar to partake in some cereal, and then they packed up and cleaned out their suite and were on their way again. 

* * *

It took almost until they stopped for lunch and a break from sitting in the car, but they managed to work out a system with music. They stopped at a store and got a portable radio so that they could always have the news running, and then they all took turns choosing songs to listen to. It ended up being an interesting mix, as whoever had the power of song choice was just as likely to select a song they loved as they were to select a song that they knew one of the others hated, and as such they ended up listening to every genre imaginable. They also discovered a few songs that they all miraculously had a common love for, and would knock into each other incessantly as they all tried to dance. 

After they ate lunch, they decided to hit up a local attraction. On a whim, they ended up visiting the home of one Sal Trivep, deceased local entrepreneur who had willed that his home be made into a museum following his death. What was he famous for? The invention of an ice cream flavor: matcha jalapeno almond. During their tour they were informed that sadly the museum could not offer them a sample of his wonderful creation, as it had been tragically banned. What a shocker. 

After lunch they drove some more, playing car games and pointing out fun things like out-of-state license plates, animals they passed, funny-shaped clouds, and vanity plates. They also made up a game of trying to spot every letter of the alphabet, and another game of trying to guess what words the letters on a license plate were from. The winner was “catawampus” from a license plate with the letters CWP. It helped that the first number following the letters had been a 5. 

It was after they stopped for dinner that things got really boring. They’d been in the car even longer than they had in the morning, so they were getting tired and cranky from that, and with the setting of the sun, it was a lot harder to look for things to laugh about on the road. They stopped listening to music altogether, and instead drove along listening to a news station and feeling more and more unsettled as they heard of all the terrible things happening in the world. 

And then Shiro, as if sensing how near the breaking point they all were, pulled over on the side of the road. 

“Shiro, what’s going on? Why are we stopped?” Hunk asked, panic in his voice. “Did we get a flat? Are we out of gas? Is there something wrong with the car? I knew we couldn’t trust those con artists, we need to-” 

“Relax, Hunk,” Shiro soothed. “I just wanted to take a break from staring at nothing but road. The headlights start to get to me after a while.” 

“Well,” Lance said, stretching his arms and almost punching Keith in the face, “in that case, I’m gonna get out and sit on the roof to look at the stars. Thanks for stopping between street lights, Shiro.” 

“Mind if I join you?” Keith asked. 

“I was about to ask that myself, so let’s just make this a group activity,” Pidge said with a shrug. The three of them crawled out of the back seat, and Shiro and Hunk followed. Lance scrambled up onto the roof of the car effortlessly, the grinned and held out a hand for Keith to take. Keith accepted his help with a blush, clambering up after him while Shiro lifted Pidge up so that she could join them. 

It was hard to say how long they stayed there, the three on the roof and the two standing at their sides, all staring up at the sky. Lance shifted so that he lay on his stomach, propped up by his elbows with his knees folded and swinging idly. Pidge began pointing out constellations, listing off factoids that Keith would probably have known already had he not been so distracted at the science museum. Keith leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the crystalline sky that was far more beautiful than even that hall of twinkling lights had been. He felt so lost and yet so at home in that moment, and he wanted to stay like this. 

At some point, Shiro leaned into the car and turned on the radio, and they listened to the soft strains of music playing into the night. The music felt just right to Keith, soft and mellow and somehow so vast at the same time. 

_It’s like I’m standing on the edge with just a telephone wire_  
_Trying to get to you first to say the world’s on fire_

It wasn’t exactly folk music, so Keith was a little surprised when Lance joined in on the second line they heard. Somehow, the addition of Lance’s voice made the song feel like it was enveloping Keith, taking over him a bit. The lyrics were almost ironic in their accuracy to how Keith felt right then. 

_Holding my breath until I know you’re alright_  
_Because the water will only rise_

Keith listened, closing his eyes, as Lance went on to sing the second verse and repeat the refrain. He breathed in the night air, and in that moment, it was everything. 

The song ended and an ad break began. Keith found himself mourning the loss of the sound of Lance’s singing voice, like some smitten idiot. Which he kinda was, but no need to rub it in or anything like that. 

“Well, as nice as this is, we should probably get going soon,” Shiro warned, rubbing his arms a little. Until he did that, Keith hadn’t noticed the chill of the night air, but once he did, he started to shiver. “We might attract attention sitting on the side of the road like this.” 

“Yeah, plus it would be bad if we let our client catch a cold,” Pidge said, noticing Keith’s sudden trembling. 

“Or if _we_ caught colds,” Hunk said. 

They piled back in the car and continued on their way to the next hotel. But even as they settled down for the night and Keith closed his eyes, he could still see those stars and hear the sound of Lance’s singing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from the song "Islands" by Sara Bareilles. I do not own anything.


	7. Shiro Does Not Sing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember those warnings at the very beginning? Well, here's where one comes in. Brief mentions of homophobia at the end of the chapter. The sentences right before and after will be put in bold text so if that's a sensitive subject you can avoid the worst of it. Though the conversation might be a little confusing if you skip everything that might trigger you, sorry.

Keith was woken up at an obscenely early hour by the sound of the door to their hotel room being thrown open and two voices chorusing “We’re baaack!” 

As Keith scrabbled at his sheets, trying to disentangle himself so he could sit up, he saw Shiro also sitting up, taking several panicked breaths while Lance chided “Not so loud. You’ll disturb the other guests. And hurry up and close the door.” 

Hunk obediently turned around and carefully swung the door shut, taking the last few inches slowly so he could quietly latch it in place. Pidge however, began to explain the miraculously soundproofed walls that the hotel they were in had. She stemmed her explanation though when she noticed the scowl on Shiro’s face. 

“And just where did you two go without alerting the entirety of the team?” he asked. 

“Um,” Hunk said. “So uh, we were kinda looking at things we could do in the area, and we kinda noticed that there’s a con that’s about 45 minutes’ drive away, today’s the last day, and we figured, y’know, it’s a con. There’s no way any Galra would go there, and if they did, they would stand out for miles. It’s the perfect place to hide for a day. Plus, if we wore costumes, even better. Except it’s not like any of us packed costumes or anything, but Pidge did some research and found a really good costume shop near here, and it’s open 24 hours which is like a miracle, but they said it was because they get a lot of business from people making drunk purchases so it works for them, and anyway we found costumes for all of us that are totally perfect, and Pidge already got the tickets, and-” 

Shiro held up a hand and Hunk stopped rambling. 

“When you say ‘a con’ you mean like…?” 

“Oh. A convention. Like comic con kinda. Or an anime convention. People dressing up as characters from their favorite fandoms and buying merchandise and basically nerding out.” 

“Oh dear heavens,” Shiro sighed. 

“A-anyway, don’t you want to see the costumes we got?” Hunk asked. 

“I’ll bite,” Keith said. “Though couldn’t this have waited until a decent hour?” 

“Nope. Ta-dah!” Hunk cried, pulling out a onesie from one of the bags he was holding. 

“Wait, is that the paladin armor from ‘Lions Go’?” Shiro asked. 

“Of course it is,” Pidge said, smirking. We got helmets, too, but we left them in the car.” 

“I must say, I’m kinda in shock right now,” Shiro said, rubbing his face. “Because if I’m understanding this situation correctly, Pidge somehow managed to convince Hunk to steal the car keys with her, sneak out, drive in the dark, and just go behind my back in general.” 

“Well we were gonna make Lance drive but he wasn’t gonna abandon his post and also he was all like ‘we should wait until Shiro wakes up’,” Hunk said. “Also I think he’s still worried about our families and stuff.” 

“Dude, I’m right here,” Lance grumbled. 

“I never thought I’d see the day where Lance would be the responsible one,” Shiro sighed. 

“Hey, I’m plenty responsible!” Lance protested. “Also, still right here.” 

“Pardon me if I was a little excited about this,” Hunk said. “Every time there’s a con going on, we actually have a job and so I can’t go, but this time, there’s a con, we have a job, but I can still go, which is just awesome!” Hunk’s voice rose an octave for the word awesome. 

“Plus, even if Lance is irresponsible, he’s also a total wimp,” Pidge said, looking directly at Lance. 

“Pidge, he’s right there,” Keith said, figuring someone ought to stand up for Lance at least. 

“Thank you!” Lance exclaimed. “At least Keith likes me, even if none of you do.” 

Oh man, Lance had no idea. If only he knew… Not that Keith was going to make the mistake of telling him ever. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Pidge said, flapping a hand at Keith and completely ignoring Lance, who crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. Shiro gave a suspicious cough, the kind that sounded like it started as a laugh. When Keith studied the older man, the corners of his mouth appeared to be turned ever-so-slightly upward. “Anyway, based on what they had in what sizes, we went ahead and decided everyone’s colors for them. Though honestly aside from Hunk and me, it wasn’t that big an issue so we just chose what we thought suited each of you.” 

“Please tell me I’m green,” Shiro said. “Green is the coolest.” 

“Tough tooters. I’m green. It was the only color that they had a costume small enough. You’re black, because that’s the leader’s color, Lance is blue, because the guy who wears blue armor is a goofball just like him, and Keith is red because Hunk had to be yellow.” 

“Not that anyone is gonna listen to me, but the blue paladin is not the goofball, he’s the one who holds the team together, and I will gladly accept that role, thank you very much,” Lance said loudly. 

“Now who’s gonna wake the neighbors,” Pidge murmured with a smirk. 

“I can’t wake them if they’re already awake from your entrance scene,” Lance sang back, and then snapped three times in a triangular formation, rocking his shoulders as he did for ultimate sass. Pidge responded with equal sass, raising her hand so that the palm was facing her and then dramatically flipping it so that it faced Lance instead, rolling her head in a slight circle as well. Lance proceeded to form a “w” with his hands and then flap them as if they were a bird flying away, keeping eye contact with Pidge the whole time. 

“Okay, why don’t we all get changed,” Shiro said, interrupting the silent sass standoff. Pidge threw one last punch however, by giving Lance a bland stare before raising two fingers and jabbing them at her eyes and then at him. 

“Oh hurry up and change you pissant,” Lance said, flapping a hand as he broke the silence of their body language battle. 

“Ha! I win!” Pidge crowed, before grabbing the bag with the green armor and booking it into the bathroom. 

“Little troll,” Lance grumbled as he reached for his costume to start changing. 

“Yeah, but useful,” Hunk said, nodding. “So very, very useful.” Lance nodded in agreement. 

“MMMhmm,” he said, adding extra emphasis to the first syllable. “No one can ever shut up the others like she can.” 

“Oh man, remember when that guy from Unilu wanted to sue us? And Pidge went and had a little talk with him?” 

“That was amazing! She had that guy practically crying!” Lance guffawed. 

“Yeah, and in the end, I heard he actually paid Coran EXTRA for hiring us! Like more than the normal fee. And when- and when Coran tried to give the extra back-” Hunk doubled over, tears in his eyes, as a wheeze of laughter escaped him. “When Coran tried to give it back, he ran away screaming! Like, Coran even went to his house, and he just took off, door open and everything, and- and-” Keith didn’t get to hear any more of the story than that, as Hunk collapsed in laughter, and Lance was barely any better off. They were still wiping away tears, only halfway into their outfits when Pidge exited the bathroom. She gave them one unamused look before a fond smile crossed her face and she sighed. 

“You two are such absolute dorks,” Pidge said, shaking her head. “It’s a good thing you keep me around to give a little coolness factor to this team.” 

“Duuuuude, that looks so great!” Hunk enthused. 

“Excuse me? You’re way too much of a nerd to be cool!” Lance protested. 

“Says the guy who sucked his thumb until he was 12 and still sleeps with his teddy bear sometimes,” Pidge deadpanned. “Besides, haven’t you heard? Nerdy is the new cool.” 

“One, I don’t want Mr. Fittles to get lonely, and two, if you’re referring to wearing oversized glasses, that trend is old, and it doesn’t count as nerdy. Plus you don’t even wear glasses so you don’t fit with that trend!” 

“Whatever. As far as I’m concerned, all the cool people anymore are nerds. And you haven’t denied that you’re a dork. In fact, by admitting your teddy bear is named ‘Mr. Fittles’, I think you kinda cemented that image.” 

“Nooooooooo!” Lance whined. 

“Oookey dokey then,” Shiro said, pulling on his gloves as he once again broke up their squabbling. “We should hit the road soon. We can grab breakfast on the way.” 

“Wait, I’m still changing!” Lance protested, hurrying to shove an arm into a sleeve. 

“Buh-bye!” Pidge said, giving a saucy wave as she headed out the door. Shiro followed, and Keith went with them while Hunk stayed with Lance. 

“Hey, um, Pidge? Don’t you think you’re a little…” Keith began. 

“Lance has a ton of siblings. He’s used to it,” Pidge said with a laugh. Her tone turned a bit more somber as she continued. “Besides, teasing each other is part of what keeps us… okay.” 

Keith stops in his tracks when she says that, but luckily they’d just entered the elevator. It should have occurred to him before now, that maybe they’ve all seen some shit. It’s obvious Shiro has, with his prosthetic arm and his scar. But the rest of them, they seem so young, and they have all their stories about getting fired, and really he’d never realized that maybe they weren’t quite as young as their years would have them be. 

Lance and Hunk managed to meet them as they exited the elevator, having run down the stairs. Keith was a little impressed, since their room had been a few flights up. He wondered if the two of them had done that thing that people did in movies, where they vaulted over the railings to take an entire flight at once. 

Once on the road, they began cycling through various music selections again, with the usual equal parts cheering and groaning with each new song. And then… a miracle happened. 

It was Hunk who chose the song. Instead of some remixed track with heavy bass in it, they instead heard a siren coming from the stereo, along with an echoey “oh shit!” 

“Awwwwww yeah!” Lance crowed. “This one’s a classic!” 

“You are such trash,” Pidge tutted. 

“As if you won’t be singing along, Pidgey-Pidge!” 

There was no more time for arguing after that, as the first verse kicked in and suddenly Lance and Pidge were too preoccupied with singing. As was Hunk. And Keith, because this song was a total throwback for him. He’d had a phase. Nuff said. 

_“When I come to the club, step aside_  
_Part the seas, don’t be having me in the line_  
_VIP, cause you know I gotta shine_  
_I’m Fergie Ferg, and me love you long time”_

They made it about halfway through the chorus before Hunk stopped singing to address an important issue. 

“C’mon, Shiro! You’ve gotta sing with us, man!” 

“Not happening, guys,” Shiro said, shouting to be heard over all of them singing. “I don’t sing.” 

“But it’s Fergie!” Pidge whined before jumping back in. 

“Guys, I’m driving!” 

“Shiro, Keith’s even dancing back here!” Lance cried. “If he can dance in the middle seat, then you can sing and drive!” 

“No! I am not singing!” 

They all groaned, but then the next verse was starting and they decided to ignore Shiro and have their fun. So what if Shiro didn’t want to live a little? That didn’t mean they couldn’t jam out. It was 4:58 in the morning. If they had to be up, they might as well sing a trashy song while rolling down the highway. 

They stopped at a pancake house about half an hour into their drive to the con. The bodyguards all ordered different types of pancakes- plain for Lance, blueberry for Pidge, banana for Hunk, and chocolate chip for Shiro, but Keith ordered strawberry crepes, and was rewarded with looks of horror from the other four because who ordered crepes at a pancake house!? He had a hard time not grinning through every sweet bite. 

Eventually they pull up to the venue. They actually arrived early enough to get a spot in one of the lots belonging to the convention center, rather than having to park a few blocks away and walk or take a shuttle. As they parked, Shiro turned on his lecture mode. 

“Okay guys. First off, leave all weapons in the car. I mean it. No exceptions. They are pretty strict about security at these things.” 

“Um, but we can’t just let Keith go in alone?” Lance asked rather than said. 

“W-why would we- what are you talking about, Lance?” Shiro asked, bewildered. 

“Because we can’t take any weapons in,” Hunk explained. “We’re bodyguards, Shiro. Meaning we’re kinda like weapons? At the very least, our hands could be considered lethal weapons, and I don’t fancy any impromptu amputations right now.” 

“Well my face is also pretty lethal,” Lance said leerily. 

“Yeah, you are pretty ugly,” Pidge agreed. 

“Emphasis on the pretty! As in, it’s so pretty it’s lethal, you little turd! You’re the one who’s ugly!” 

“Just keep telling yourself that, pumpkin.” 

“Well also that angry look is pretty lethal too,” Hunk said. “Seriously, Pidge, if you were any taller I’d tell you to duck.” 

Pidge’s face puckered in annoyance. 

“Now Pidge is the one with the lethal face,” Keith said. “I mean, such a poisonous look has never been seen before.” 

“Enough with the lethal anatomy!” Shiro yelled, pounding his hands on the grips of the steering wheel. 

There was a moment of silence, and then Keith had to say it. 

“Um, Shiro? What lethal anatomy are you referring to, exactly.” 

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all laughed until they were in tears. Shiro turned the color of a beet and had to rest his head on the wheel for a full minute. Keith felt proud of himself in that moment. 

“The point I am making here is,” Shiro said tensely, finally straightening up but still very red, “no guns- DON’T even ask about fingerguns, Lance, you know what I mean- no sharp objects, no brass knuckles, not any of the stuff you usually carry. Cosplay items only. Got it?” 

“Yes, Shiro,” the younger three bodyguards chorused. 

“Okay good. If we’re all ready, then let’s go.” 

Shiro got out of the car, but the younger three bodyguards delayed a bit to divest themselves of various hidden weapons that Keith would rather have not known about, because some of them were kept in rather odd places. He faced straight ahead, trying to ignore the things that were happening in his peripheral vision. 

They crossed the parking lot and got in line for the entrance. As they waited, Shiro began hissing instructions to them all, explaining what to expect until Hunk shut him up with a comment of “you know, for a guy who needed clarification as to what a con was, you sure know a lot about how they work.” Afterwards, Shiro turned bright red and clamped his lips shut, scowling beneath his helmet. Lance and Pidge both reached out to give Hunk subtle low fives. 

Eventually they ended up discussing what to put on their name tags. Shiro stubbornly stayed out of the conversation, having decided it wasn’t worth the risk to open his mouth. But the others all got involved, arguing rather passionately. They all agreed that using their names was too risky, and that using the names or colors of their paladins was too lame, but they were undecided about what would be a suitable theme. 

“Okay, but listen to this one,” Pidge said, eyes wide with animation. “Animals. That are the colors of our armor.” 

“No way,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “We’d have to get weirdly specific, like Hunk would have to be some sort of Amazonian poison dart frog or whatever. So how ‘bout we not?” 

“Well then, how about flavors associated with our colors?” Hunk asked. They all stared at him, and he raised his eyebrows, going “huh? Huh? You know you love it.” 

“Hunk, we certainly love you,” Pidge countered, “but we don’t love that idea. We get that food’s kinda your thing, but just no.” 

“Well how about rainbow-themed stuff?” Keith suggested. 

Lance slammed a fist into the open palm of his other hand. 

“SOLD!” he crowed loudly, making several people around them jump, “to the gentleman in the red armor with the poor taste in hairstyles.” 

“Um, what’s sold?” Keith asked. 

“My heart,” Lance grinned, and good god, was this boy trying to completely and utterly wreck Keith? And first thing in the morning too. Keith barely managed to contain a whimper. 

“You mean you were auctioning off your heart, and you just sold it for a single statement?” Pidge asked incredulously. “A statement that wasn’t even romantic?” 

“Man, such low standards man,” Hunk said, shaking his head. “I mean, you should at least hold out for some cheese curds or something.” 

“Hunk…” Lance began. 

“Nope, don’t talk to me right now. After everything I’ve done for you, that you would give your heart away to someone else so easily, I’m just so hurt right now, Lance.” 

“Aw, Hunk buddy, you’ll always be my pal,” Lance wheedled. “No one will ever take your place. Same goes for you, Pidgiko.” 

“Oh, we’re being all mushy now? Yuck,” Pidge said, sticking her tongue out and gagging for good measure. “Also, Pidgiko? Seriously? You can do better than that, Lance.” 

“I was trying to sound all anime. We _are_ at a con, after all.” 

“You’re such a dork.” 

“You’re such a nerd.” 

“Okay, but we should probably choose our names soon?” Hunk suggested. “The table where we sign in is like, right there.” 

After about thirty seconds of brainstorming, all they thought of for rainbow-themed names was Skittles. As Pidge dug out confirmation pages from the e-tickets she had somehow miraculously scrounged up, Hunk made a decision for them all. 

“Okay, fuck it. We’re just going with our armor colors because this rainbow themed bullshit is too hard.” 

“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right,” Lance sighed. 

“Er, does that mean you want your heart back?” Keith asked awkwardly. He plastered a smile on his face to keep his expression from showing just how much he was kicking himself for letting that slip out of his mouth. It was all but admitting he had a crush on the other guy, and there was no way that THAT would go well. 

“Ah, no, s’all good. You can hold onto it for now,” Lance said, smiling back at him, and _gyawd_ Keith was totally melting right then. He was about to become a puddle of goo encased by costume paladin armor. What a depressing end. Here he was, wanted by the Galra, and yet instead of falling to a bullet or other bout of violence in a blaze of glory, he is falling thanks to a smile. 

Their confirmations were checked and they were waved to the table ahead where people were filling out name tags. Hunk pounced on the table immediately, grabbing five badges and filling them out with Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black, before issuing them to the respective members of their group. 

Once they were past the entrance, Shiro pulled them off to the side. 

“Okay guys. This is a large area. We need to know the layout of things.” 

“They have maps, Shiro,” Pidge said. 

“I know that, Pidge, but you should know as well as I do that things look different on paper. Which is why we’re going to spread out and take a look around.” 

“In this crowd? Are you _crazy_?!?” Lance asked, eyes bugging out so far Keith was surprised they didn’t hit the visor of his helmet. 

“Eh, the sanity of any one of us is debatable,” Hunk said, shrugging. “Keith’s the only one who we can count on to not be crazy.” 

“I don’t know…” Pidge said. “He seems to jive with us just a little too well. Like, he hasn’t even mentioned firing us, he laughs at our jokes, he sang along to Fergie with us in the car… Not sure we can rule out the possibility of him being completely bonkers as well.” 

“No nononono,” Lance said. “You’ve got it all wrong, Pidgewidge. Bonkers is a word for someone like Coran, or maybe even our last client.” All of them shuddered at the mention of their last client, and Shiro muttered something about… a chickenshit? Keith wasn’t sure he heard right. Lance continued. “Keith, meanwhile, ah, Keith, Keith, Keith. He’s a lot more subtle about it. I’d say he’s less bonkers and more… kooky. Let’s go with that.” 

“I think you’re getting bonkers mixed up with batshit there, but sure, let’s go with kooky.” 

“Enough debating synonyms here, guys. Will you please, please, just focus for once?” 

The younger three bodyguards all flinched at Shiro’s words. 

“Er, sorry, that’s- guys, that’s not what I meant,” Shiro said, his tone instantly changing to become pleading. 

“No,” Hunk said, his voice rather high. “No, you made your point Shiro. Okay, um, I think I’m gonna go check out the panel rooms, because there’s a panel on video game cooking I saw listed on the information sheet Pidge showed me.” He turned and walked off slowly. 

“I’ll be looking for merchandise for Matt, since he’ll want me to get him a souvenir,” Pidge said, acid dripping from her words. “I know it’s not as _focused_ as you’d like, but I guess you’ll have to settle, since it’s us.” Pidge too left, stalking off and exuding such a hostile aura that the crowds parted to let her through without her pushing or uttering a sound. 

“I’ll um, I’ll just,” Lance backed away a couple steps, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Art, checking out.” He turned and fled, and Shiro looks distraught. 

“Aw, shit, shit, shit on a brick, monkeys in an oven, goddamn fuck,” Shiro muttered to himself. “The _one thing_ everyone always gets on their case about, and I just throw it in their faces. Ugh! Why did I say that?” 

“Uh, Shiro?” Keith asked. “You okay?” 

It was a stupid question. Shiro was obviously not okay. Shiro cared about his team, and thanks to something he’d said, they were all not okay, so of course Shiro would never be okay when a team member was hurt, let alone all of them, let alone by his own doing. 

“Let’s just go do something. Anything. They’ll find us eventually.” 

Shiro and Keith found some activity rooms and ended up hanging out there. They played a game of nerf dodgeball someone set up, and Keith was the first person out. Shiro, followed soon after, though it was pretty obvious he let himself get out. Next they tried a melee battle with staffs padded with foam at the ends, and again, Keith didn’t last long, and Shiro got hit on purpose to stay with Keith like a good bodyguard. 

Keith didn’t think he’d be so affected by the events of the morning. But he kept remembering a moment in the car, when they were all singing, and he and Lance had started singing into each others’ faces. He kept seeing a fist slam down on an open hand while a voice yells “SOLD”. He kept hearing soft singing underneath a starry sky. And most of all, he kept seeing that look of betrayed hurt, so clear that it showed even through the tinted visor that covered half his face. It hadn’t even been directed at Keith, but it still squeezed at his heartstrings. 

Of course Shiro noticed that Keith wasn’t quite himself. After the melee, they ended up sitting in a hallway, killing time until the others returned. And of course, given their circumstances, there was no way for Keith to avoid Shiro when he took advantage of the relative quiet of the hall. 

“So, uh, you doing alright, Keith?” Shiro asked. “You don’t really seem like yourself.” 

Keith knew he could try and dodge the question. He could change the subject, and Shiro would probably let him, he could lie and Shiro wouldn’t question it, but Keith instead decided to go with the truth. All good things had to come to an end eventually. He would just come clean to Shiro and Shiro would tell the others and that way they wouldn’t get any closer to him than they already had and it might not hurt as much when they reached Marmora and he never saw them again. 

“Shiro, I, uh, I have a confession to make,” Keith said, his voice breaking. 

“Oh no, if this is another ‘I didn’t want to scare you off with just how dire my circumstances are thing’, please save it. At least until we get back to the hotel, alright?” 

“I-it’s not. But… it is something you really ought to know. It’s, um, you might not want anything to do with me after I tell you this, you might even hate me, and I get that, it is kinda disturbing and all, but um…” 

“Keith, I really doubt there is anything you could say to make me hate you. I may not know you all that well, but your parents are always talking about you, and everything they say about you just says you’re a great person.” 

“Yeah, well, they don’t know about this. They don’t know that I… I’m… gay. **I’m gay, Shiro.** ” Keith tensed up, knowing what would surely come next. 

“And why would that make me hate- oh God. Keith, why’re you flinching like that? Do you- do you expect me to… hit you?” 

Keith didn’t nod. He was too scared to move right then. 

“Keith, please, I’m not going to hit you. I would never hit you. The fact that you are a client, and that I really owe your parents aside, I try to avoid hitting people. I did too much of that when I was younger. And I would never hit someone for coming out to me. Why would you think that?” 

Keith’s throat wouldn’t work at first, but he finally managed to choke out an answer. 

“Because that’s what people do!” he sobbed, suddenly noticing the tears that were flowing freely down his face. Shiro’s eyes went wide. 

“Keith, did this happen to you before?” 

Keith nodded. He tried to hold back the images burned into his mind: the disgusted look on Marina’s face as she told him he was going to Hell, the way Taylor tried to stay close to him but was clearly uncomfortable being near him over the next few weeks, until he told Taylor that they didn’t have to go so far for his sake, or the barely contained rage on Jacob’s face before he punched Keith so hard that Keith saw stars. Jacob, who had been his best friend since preschool. Jacob, who had always come straight to Keith whenever he had problems he didn’t know how to deal with. Jacob, who had spat the word “fag” at him, and had gone and told everyone, turning Keith into a walking target. 

“Is it okay if I hug you right now?” Shiro asked, breaking through the onrush of unwanted memories. “You look like you need it.” 

Keith hesitated, then nodded. It was probably just a ruse, and Shiro was repulsed just like everyone else, but better to just get it over with. If Shiro was going to hurt him, he’d rather it happen quickly. 

Shiro pulled Keith in close and wrapped his arms around him, pushing Keith’s head against his shoulder with one hand and gently rubbing his back with the other. Keith shuddered, half in shock and half because his chest was heaving, trying to get some air. Shiro made soothing noises as Keith cried, allowing him to let it all out. Once Keith had quieted a bit, Shiro began to talk, murmuring so only Keith could hear. 

“Keith, it doesn’t matter if you’re gay. That doesn’t change anything. In a perfect world, no one would hate you for it, and no one would hit you, and you wouldn’t ever have to be afraid or ashamed of it, because it’s who you are. This isn’t a perfect world, but we’re here to protect you, whether it be from Galra or homophobes who have their heads up their asses. We won’t let anyone hurt you, so long as we’re around. So don’t be afraid. And definitely don’t be ashamed. There is nothing ‘disturbing’ about you being gay. It doesn’t disturb me, and it doesn’t mean you are mentally disturbed or whatever bullshit people might say. So please, it’s okay.” 

Keith sniffed mightily, nodding. Shiro pulled away and smiled down at him. 

“And tell me who hit you for coming out to them before, okay? Someone’s gotta teach them that such behavior is unacceptable.” 

**“It doesn’t matter now,” Keith said, his voice thick with tears.** “It’s all in the past.” 

“Maybe it’s too late to stop them from hurting you, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be stopped from doing that to someone else. So tell me, and I will track them down and we will have a little talk. I’m sure Pidge and Lance and Hunk would all be more than happy to come with.” 

“Y-you think they’d be okay? With… with me, that is. Me being gay.” 

“Oh absolutely. Hunk’s straight, but he grew up in a very progressive household. Plus, I’m not sure the big guy even knows how to hate. Pidge hasn’t really explored her sexuality yet, but she’s said before that she thinks she’s probably asexual, and I wouldn’t be surprised. And I’m actually kinda surprised you hadn’t noticed how very bi Lance is, since he’s not exactly subtle about it. He’s pretty open, and shameless about flirting with anyone who catches his eye. So none of them are about to judge you for your interests. Now come on, let’s go clean you up before the others see you covered in snot and tears and rip my throat out for letting something bad happen to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "London Bridge" by Fergie. I do not own anything.


	8. One Last Dance

After Keith got his tear ducts back under control and his breathing almost back to normal, they went out into the hall and almost ran right into Pidge. She towed them off to yet another activity room, where there was a karaoke machine set up. Every single song on the machine was either Jpop or Kpop, and a lot of it came from anime. They walked in just in time to hear someone finishing up a rendition of “Seijatachi” from “Tokyo Ghoul”, and then Lance was there and grabbing Pidge, saying Hunk needed the two of them for backup. 

“But I don’t-!” Pidge began. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll sing the high parts. You can just speak your part if you want!” Lance yelled as he towed Pidge away. Keith saw Pidge’s eyes go wide. 

“Idiot! You’ll strain your vocal chords or something!” 

“Nah, I’ll be fine!” 

The song “Flyers” started up, and Hunk started singing, and when the bridge came up, Lance and Pidge came in as well. Pidge had a sour expression as she sang the high part, and kept scowling in Lance’s direction. Keith wasn’t sure if she was mad at him for roping her into this, or if she was concerned he might try and sing her part with her and was trying to let him know that he had better not. She scowled even harder when, during the second verse, while there was no backup needed, Lance lifted her up and held her up at arm’s length, much to the amusement of everyone watching. Keith barely contained a laugh, wondering just how badly Lance was going to pay for that stunt later. 

After their turn was over, a group went up and started singing the “Fire Emblem” theme song, and Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all returned to Keith and Shiro. 

“Sooooooo,” Lance began. Keith raised his eyebrows at Lance’s tone. “Hunk and Pidge and me, we were thinking, and, Shiro, we love you, but we have a serious problem.” Except Lance’s tone was anything but serious. “Which is that you owe us.” 

“Guys, if this is about what I said earlier, I’m truly sorry. I-” Shiro cut off as Hunk held up a hand. 

“Shiro, you know we don’t hold grudges about that kind of thing,” Hunk said. “However, we do hold grudges for people who act cool for the most part but suddenly turn lame when it counts most. And as such, you’re gonna make it up to us, right here right now. Get in line, bub, because you owe us a song.” 

“Aw, guys, I already told you I don’t sing! And I get stage fright!” 

“Doesn’t matter,” Pidge said. “Unless you want me to show these guys your old MySpace page.” 

Shiro turned pale. 

“But I deleted that!” 

“Oh please. I am a technology goddess, thank you very much. And the internet is eternal. However, I can make it less eternal if you go sing for us please.” Pidge batted her eyelashes sweetly, and Shiro huffed in annoyance. 

“Alright, fine.” 

“Ooo, ooo! Can I pick the song?” Lance asked. 

“Oh please do, Lance,” Pidge said. “Choose something super embarrassing.” 

“How about ‘Gee’, is that too hard?” Lance suggested, grinning. 

“No, that’s fine,” Shiro said, resigned. He went and got in line. Two songs later, it was his turn. Pidge pulled out a camera, and Lance and Hunk began nudging each other. 

The song began, and so did Shiro’s singing. And everything Shiro had ever told them was a lie, because he could sing just fine. Better than fine, actually. He could sing really good. But even better than that, was the dance. Shiro did the same moves that were in the music video, flawlessly executing them while not missing a single note and not even looking at the screen to remind him of the lyrics even though they were all in Korean. 

Keith, Lance, and Hunk’s jaws were all hanging open, and Pidge was grinning, and Keith could tell the other two were just burning to ask Pidge if she’d somehow known about this, but didn’t want to ruin the video of this amazing moment. 

The song ended, and Keith barely even processed it because he was just too much in shock. While he stood there slack jawed alongside Lance and Hunk, Pidge moved forward to meet Shiro, her camera mysteriously disappearing back into her backpack. 

“You okay, Shiro?” she called. “You looked like you were stumbling a bit there.” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Shiro said. 

“Too used to doing that in heels?” Pidge asked, and Shiro nodded before suddenly freezing and turning to peer at Pidge with narrowed eyes. 

“And just what exactly is that supposed to mean, Missy?” he asked. 

“Oh, just that I found a certain youtube channel. 

Shiro paled. 

“Oh no.” 

“Oh yes.” 

“Noooooo.” 

Lance and Hunk were both doubled over by then, and the only reason Keith wasn’t with them was because he was too much in shock. 

“Here,” Pidge said, reaching into her backpack and pulling out her laptop. “Let me show you.” She led the way out into the hall and found an empty spot along the wall to sit down. A few taps of her fingers later and they were looking at a youtube channel dedicated to song covers. She selected a video and started it up, and they watched a group dance around the screen, singing pop lyrics and doing cutesy moves. And then, just as Keith was beginning to move in time with the music, Pidge paused the video, leaving it frozen on a close up of one of the singers. 

“Look familiar?” she asked. 

The boys leaned forward, examining the singer. The face was indeed familiar. Those eyes, and that nose, and what a strong jawline for a woman and… 

“Oh. My. God,” Hunk breathed. “Shiro, is that you?” 

Shiro didn’t answer. He just stood on the side, hand slid underneath his visor to cover his face and a blush showing around his hand. His entire posture screamed of embarrassment, which was answer enough for them. 

“So let me get this straight,” Lance said. “You mean to tell us, that back in the day, when you weren’t getting into fights, you were some kind of cross-dressing internet idol? And you never thought to mention this before?!” 

“Yyyyyyyup,” Pidge said, since Shiro was in no state to answer on his own. 

“Shiro! My image of you just went down, like, 20 points!” Lance cried. “How could you keep something so awesome from us? I thought we were friends!” 

“I think he’s a _liiiittle_ bit broken right now,” Hunk said, patting Lance on the shoulder. 

“You think he’s broken now, just wait until he realizes that in order to get rid of some blackmail material, he gave us even more,” Pidge smirked. Shiro’s hand receded, revealing wide eyes, before Shiro moaned and slid down the wall, drawing his knees up to hide his head behind. “Besides, there’s no way I could possibly bring myself delete all his emo statuses, or the video he was tagged in where he’s screaming like a little girl because of a butterfly.” 

“Hey, butterflies are evil, I’m telling you!” Shiro protested, lifting his head to defend what was left of his honor. “They’re out to get me, I swear!” 

“Uh-huh, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” 

Shiro’s head lowered back to his knees. 

“You guys are the worst,” he muttered to his knees, barely audible. 

“No, Pidge is,” Lance countered. “We’re like the good, the bad, and the ugly. Only we’d have to be the good, the bad, and the beautiful ‘cuz Hunk is the good, Pidge is the bad, and I’m flat-out gorgeous, so…” 

“Nah, ugly suits you pretty well,” Hunk said. 

“Ex _cuse_ you. I am fucking flawless!” 

“Not after watching _The Fox and the Hound_ you ain’t. Such messy tears.” Hunk clicked his tongue and shook his head. 

“Oh, like you look any better!” 

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed. “Can confirm, the both of you look horrible by the time that movie is over. Such wimps.” 

“At least we have feelings, unlike a certain cold-hearted someone!” Lance protested. 

“Word of advice,” Hunk said to Keith from the corner of his mouth, holding up a hand as if to block the sound of his words from the others, “don’t ever try and use movies to make Pidge cry. Spoiler alert, it’s impossible.” 

“Not impossible, Hunk,” Pidge snorted. “I tend to cry at the end of _I, Robot_. You know, when VIKI dies?” 

“Pidge, that’s supposed to be a good thing!” Shiro protested, finally recovering. 

“But she was such an amazing computer, and they just shut her down! Not only that, but it’s an allegory! She had an unpopular opinion, and was silenced for it! It’s so unfair!” 

“There she is folks,” Lance said, slow-clapping, “the infamous Pidge Holt, and her mixed up priorities making a rare appearance in the outside world.” 

“Hey up yours, man.” 

“Is that an offer?” 

“You’re so gross.” 

“Not exactly a newsflash at this point, Pidgling.” 

“Ugh. You’re right.” 

They ended up watching a few more of Shiro’s videos. Shiro even made a few suggestions for them before the end, and added commentary to some, such as “god those skirts were awful” or “man we had so many outtakes of this one because we all kept falling” or “if you look closely, you can see where Sven’s padding fell out. Look there, see? He’s kicking something away? That’s his padding. Notice how his chest is a little deflated on the one side now.” But Pidge insisted they stop after a while, since she didn’t want to risk running out of battery life and then needing to use her computer later. 

After her laptop was packed away, they decided to go watch the cosplay contest. Keith’s favorite was a group where everyone dressed up as Naruto and did a skit of the infamous ninja using his shadow clone jutsu. However, none of the others were impressed. Pidge liked the pair that dressed up as Tsunemori and Kogami from “PsychoPass”, Hunk was a fan of the group that cosplayed characters from “Food Wars”, though his opinion of them went down after he realized they were using fake food, Lance got very excited over a group that did genderbent “Fairy Tail”, while Shiro told them all to shut up because that unassuming Kageyama Shigeo cosplay was pure genius. After a small but heated debate, they agreed to disagree. 

The winner was none of their favorites- instead it was a girl crossplaying Noctis from _FFXV_. Pidge jokingly asked it Lance was gonna try and get her number, and Keith felt his heart fall out of his chest, but Lance picked his spirits back up right away when he responded to Pidge’s suggestion with an uninterested shrug that left Hunk and Pidge trying to feel if he had a fever because he was clearly sick or something. 

They were just leaving the hall where the competition had occurred when Shiro let out a soft “uh-oh.” 

The three younger bodyguards immediately honed in on it. 

“What’s wrong?” Hunk asked. 

“10:30. Slightly chubby man with the mutton chop beard? That’s Prorok.” 

“As in-” Lance started to ask, but Shiro cut him off. 

“As in the reason I’m missing an arm. Yes, Lance.” 

“He doesn’t look like the type to be at a con. And he’s not wearing a badge, but the security people are ignoring him,” Pidge said. Keith hadn’t even noticed her look away from Shiro, and since she was on Shiro’s left, that meant this Prorok fellow wasn’t exactly in her line of sight. 

“You’re right, he’s not. You guys go. I’ll call you with a pick-up location, but if you’re seen with me, then we’re in trouble.” 

“But Shiro-!” Lance got no further before Shiro was tugging his helmet off and shoving it into Lance’s hands. 

“I can’t do anything about the armor, but maybe the fact that you guys have helmets and I don’t will help to prevent them identifying you as my colleagues. At the very least, the visors will protect your faces. Take your time. Look at things. Don’t move too fast. Be safe, guys. Allura will have my hide if anything happens to any of you.” 

And then Shiro was gone. Lance tucked the helmet under an arm, and they moved along, stopping at booths to buy things. Pidge got a Yoda keychain for her brother. Hunk picked up a cookbook of recipes seen in video games that had been advertised at the panel he’d gone to that morning, and Lance treated them all to some popcorn that was being sold. Then, when the three of them noticed Keith eyeing a “Deadman Wonderland” t-shirt, they mocked him for his taste in anime but went ahead and bought it for him, insisting it was a gift. 

“To commemorate the good times we’ve had together,” Lance said. And Keith could hardly turn it down after that. 

Still, Keith couldn’t help but notice how much quieter they were than usual. Their smiles and laughter were strained, their bodies were tense, and it began to dawn on him that they were all scared. 

Almost an hour after Shiro had left them, they exited the convention center. Neither Pidge nor Hunk seemed surprised when they got to the car and Lance pulled out the keys to unlock it. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge all got in, but Lance stayed outside. 

“Lance, come on,” Hunk pleaded. “The longer you stay out there the more we risk attracting notice.” 

“And Prorok may not know our faces, but I think I may have seen Ms. Haggar in there,” Pidge said. 

“You WHAT?!?” Hunk yelped. 

“Keep it down. This is why I didn’t mention it sooner.” 

“Alright, that’s it. Lance, get in the car. We need to go. Now.” 

Lance sighed, and then slipped into the driver’s seat. He began making adjustments to the mirrors and the seat, and then their phones dinged. They all pulled them out to see the same message: an address. 

“Pidge, get me directions,” Lance instructed, turning the key in the ignition and putting the car in reverse. 

“Like you have to ask,” Pidge said, her laptop already out of the backpack in her lap and powering up from sleep mode. 

They drove for about ten minutes through the city streets, and then Lance slowed and pulled over as Shiro darted from the entrance of a subway station. He was in the car before it fully stopped, and ordering Lance to get moving again. 

“Evasion tactics?” Lance asked him as they got back up to speed. 

“Negative,” Shiro panted. “Just get on the highway.” 

“Roger,” Lance said. 

They were almost to the highway when Keith realized that Shiro was still panting and Pidge asked “Shiro, is that… blood?” 

Keith looked to his right and saw that Shiro was very pale and bleeding from his side. 

“Yeah, but it’s fine. They know they got me, so they’ll be checking the hospitals here. If we get a bit farther away, I can contact Coran and tell him which hospital I’m at so that he can get to me first. But that means this is the end of the line for me, do you understand?” 

No one answered. 

“I said, ‘Do you understand?’!” Shiro repeated in a demanding tone. 

“Understand, yes. Accept? Ehhhhhuhhhhhh, still working on that,” Hunk said. 

“Pidge?” Shiro asked. 

“I don’t like it,” Pidge grumbled. 

“I don’t care, you’ve got to do it. So, ‘do you understand?’” 

“Yes, Shiro. I understand.” 

“Lance?” 

Lance didn’t answer. 

“Lance?” Shiro’s tone got even more insistent. 

“There’s got to be another way,” Lance finally said. 

“There isn’t.” 

“Yes there is! You just haven’t considered it yet!” 

“There isn’t, Lance! Please! Just keep going and don’t look back. The client always takes priority.” 

“I-” Lance cut off when Hunk reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, then finally answered, miserably, “I understand.” 

“Good.” 

They drove for almost a half hour, everything after that conversation in complete silence. They didn’t even bother to turn on the radio, or pass around the aux cord to plug into their MP3 players. No one said a word until Shiro instructed Lance to pull off the highway and Pidge to direct them to a hospital. 

At the hospital, Lance pulled up near the ER, and Shiro got out alone. He was already dialing the main office of Wimbledon-Smythe’s as he trudged towards the doors. They watched him go until he turned around and made a shooing motion at them, and then they left. Keith found himself twisting around in his seat to stare back at Shiro as he made it to the doors and was met by some paramedics who helped him inside. 

They returned to the hotel, and Hunk went in alone to get the few things they’d left in the room and to check them out of the room. Lance left the engine running and kept a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel the whole time Hunk was inside. As soon as they were loaded up, they were on the road again. 

They only made it about ten minutes along the highway before Lance pulled over suddenly and started sobbing at the wheel. Almost immediately, Hunk’s seatbelt was off and he was hugging Lance, trying to reassure him. It reminded Keith of how Shiro had helped him just a few hours previously, and the memory left a lump in Keith’s throat that made it hard to swallow. 

“Lance? Buddy? I need you to stay with me right now, okay?” Hunk said. “I know it’s hard, but we need you to do this. We need you to keep it together, at least until we make it to our next stop.” 

“Olkarion will be a good place to stay a few days and rest,” Pidge said mutedly from next to Keith. He looked over to see tears on her face as well. And when he looked back to the front seat, there was a suspicious redness to Hunk’s eyes. “It’s four hours of driving.” 

“I- I can’t-” Lance was close to hyperventilating, and Hunk pulled him close so that Lance could rest his head against his friend’s chest. 

“Yes you can,” Hunk soothed. “We’re here with you, and we’ve got this.” 

“But we don’t have Shiro!” Lance all but screamed, his voice rising in borderline hysteria. “We don’t have Shiro, I’m not Shiro, you’re not Shiro, she’s not Shiro, we’re not Shiro and-!” 

“We don’t need Shiro, Lance!” Hunk shouted, pushing Lance out to arm’s length. “You said that we would do this on our own, without him! And you were right! Yeah, having him along made things easier, but we know what we’re doing too! Was it Shiro who protected Coran before Allura could even move that time when he almost got hit by a car? And where was Shiro when we discovered that assassination attack on Blaytz’s client? Was Shiro there when we rescued Shay? No! We did that! Us! You me and Pidge! Not Shiro! Even Allura had said that Shay was beyond rescuing, but we did it, just like we’re going to get Keith safely to Marmora from right under the Galra’s noses! So, please, Lance. Just listen to Pidge and drive us to Olkarion!” 

Lance wiped his nose, and nodded, but he didn’t put the car back in gear. He instead slumped against the back of his seat, taking deep breaths. After a minute passed and he didn’t look any better and more tears had started to escape, Keith couldn’t bear it anymore. He needed to say something, anything, to make Lance feel better. To make all of them feel better. 

“Look, I’ve said before that you guys know more about what’s going on than me, and that’s still true, but Shiro told me he thinks you guys are well on your way to becoming the best. He said you’ve never let your clients get hurt.” Keith might have continued, but he stopped in his tracks as Pidge hissed, Hunk inhaled sharply, and Lance made a pained noise in his throat. 

“Shiro told you that?’ Pidge said bitterly. 

“He-he did.” 

“Yeah? Well Shiro doesn’t know everything,” Lance spat, and slammed the gearshift into drive. 

“Um, I’m sorry if I-” Keith began, not sure what he said wrong. 

“Please just stop talking, Keith,” Hunk said, and Keith recoiled. Hunk sighed, and gave Keith a pitying look through the rearview mirror before turning to re-buckle his seat belt. “I’ll- I’ll explain things later, okay? Just, drop it for now.” 

Keith nodded. Next to him, Pidge moved her backpack over and brought her legs up onto the seat, hugging herself as she glared moodily out the window. In front of Keith, Hunk also stared out his window, his chin propped on his hand which was propped on the door. And Lance… Lance stared dead ahead, tears still falling silently as he drove, mile after mile down the highway, always taking them closer to Marmora and farther from Shiro.


	9. Things that Follow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mentions of terroristic events, PTSD. The first four paragraphs are safe, but otherwise, the rest of the chapter contains content that may trigger some. If that's you, it might be better to just skip to the next chapter, as your mental health is important. I will provide a summary of this chapter in the notes before the next one in case anyone chooses that option. Take care.

When they got to Olkarion, Pidge directed them to one of the rental centers. She and Lance got out of the car and went inside while Hunk and Keith waited for them. Keith started to open his mouth to ask about earlier, but Hunk shook his head, and so Keith kept his silence. A few minutes later, Lance and Pidge returned, and Lance drove them into the Olkarion woods, following a narrow gravel road for miles as they moved deeper and deeper into the forest. Eventually they pulled off on to a small side road, and after travelling a ways on it, the pulled onto another. After the fourth turn, they pulled onto a dirt road and followed it to a cabin. 

“Okay, Lance, you check the inside. I’ll get started on cameras, so Keith and Hunk, wait here,” Pidge said, taking command. Once again, she and Lance got out of the car while Keith and Hunk waited. 

Over the course of the evening, Keith noticed that sort of a thing was a trend. Pidge and Lance kept busy while Keith was left with Hunk. After setting up some cameras around the cabin, Pidge walked up the road to lay down an alarm that would go off if anyone drove towards their cabin. She also set up some sort of proximity sensors in the woods around their rental. As for Lance, once he’d confirmed the cabin was safe, he sent Hunk and Keith in and then unloaded the car. Once that was done, he went to clean the car to make sure that none of Shiro’s blood stained the interior. After that, Lance drove off to go pick up something for dinner. He came back with a couple buckets of chicken tenders and then locked himself in the bathroom to take a shower. Meanwhile, Keith and Hunk waited in the car until the all clear, then they went into the house and played cards until dinner arrived. They ate while Lance was showering. 

Keith didn’t know what he’d said that was causing Pidge and Lance to avoid him and was making Hunk so quiet. And Hunk was being quiet. He’d barely strung together an entire sentence since he first told Keith to leave things alone. It was almost enough to make Keith wish the Galra would just come for him, since the silence was killing him. But if the Galra came for him, that might mean that Pidge and Hunk and Lance all ended up in the hospital as well. Or worse. Keith would never wish for that. 

Finally, after they’d eaten, Hunk gestured for Keith to follow him to the second floor and into one of the bedrooms up there. Once they were inside, Keith sat on the bed, and Hunk shut the door and heaved a sigh. 

“First off, I’d like to make it clear, Shiro didn’t lie to you,” Hunk said, leaning against the door a moment before walking over to join Keith. “We never have let any of clients get hurt. But there is something… something he doesn’t know about. It wasn’t our client, but someone did get hurt. And… well, we really don’t like to talk about it.” Hunk lapsed into silence again, so Keith spoke up. 

“How come Shiro didn’t know?” 

“That’s uh, well, it kinda had to do with what happened today, actually. That guy Shiro saw, Prorok? He’s suspected as one of the Overlord’s assassins. Nothing’s been proved, of course, but he came after one of Shiro’s clients. Only Shiro was there, and the client lived. But Shiro lost his arm and got that scar on his face. After that, he was out of commission for a while, in the hospital and then getting therapy and then learning to use his new arm, and a lot of people honestly thought he was never coming back. Only then he did, but the thing with us… well what happened with us was kinda a taboo subject in our offices. Everyone just kinda did it on their own mostly, though Allura kinda enforced it a few times too I guess.” 

“Was it… bad?” Keith asked, uncertain what exactly he even meant. Maybe “Did you guys really mess up?” or perhaps “Was it really embarrassing?” He didn’t expect what came next. 

“You ever hear of the Bahku garden?” Hunk asked. He snorted at the expression on Keith’s face. “That was a dumb question. Of course you have. It was all over the news after all. Why I ask is, well, we were there.” 

Keith inhaled sharply. 

“You mean… on that day?” 

“Yeah. That day. One of the worst days of my entire life. Or rather, the start of the worst year of my entire life, really.” Hunk wet his lips nervously. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Keith said hurriedly. 

“No, I do. Because it’s going to be affecting us from now on. Lance and Pidge especially. It was… like nothing you could ever imagine.” Hunk sighed heavily, and ran a hand through his hair. He got up and paced across the room before coming back and sitting on the bed again. 

“We had this client, Luxia. Rich lady. Super rich. Owned a tropical island or something, which was where she lived most of the time. Only she had some business back home, so she and her daughter came up for a year or so. We were hired to guard them. 

“So, a year goes by, not a single problem. But then, it was January, and it was her daughter’s birthday. So she wanted to have a party for her little girl, and she chose the Bahku garden as the venue. It was a botanical garden, focused on tropical plants, and she said it made her feel like she was home. We thought, that’s cool, a botanical garden will be a nice place. So we went ahead and went with her and her daughter and about a dozen of her daughter’s friends. 

“Well, we were in the garden, everyone was having a good time, when I noticed this guy who he just rubbed me the wrong way. And Pidge and Lance noticed him too. And we noticed that he had a backpack when we first saw him, but later, it was gone. So right then, we were all like ‘we’ve gotta get out of here.’ Except… Lance and Pidge, they were like ‘if there’s a bomb, everyone’s gonna die. We can’t let that happen.’ Except it’s what Shiro said earlier, ‘the client always takes priority.’ We all knew that, it’s fucking protocol, but that time, we broke the rules a bit. Lance and I tried to take care of Luxia and Plaxum- that was her daughter- and all Plaxum’s little friends, while Pidge went to the management office and tried to get them to call the cops and evacuate the building. Only Luxia, she hated the cold, hated it so much, and she didn’t want to leave. Kept insisting how we were ‘safe and warm’. I would never have gotten her out of there, but Lance managed to rally all those little girls and convince them they wanted to play in the snow, and once they wanted to go, Luxia had to go with them. It’s a good thing Lance is so good with kids." Hunk laughed humorlessly before continuing. 

“Anyway, we got them outside, but Pidge, she wasn’t having any luck. I mean, she’s short, and she just looks so young, and we were young to be bodyguards too, and so the manager or whatever at the gardens, he wasn’t listening to her at all. Thought she was just some kid pulling a prank. Told her to go back to her mommy and daddy or something like that. When she wouldn’t leave, he had the security guard at the garden remove her. She made sure to scream the whole way that there was a bomb, to try and convince people to leave. Some did, but a lot didn’t. They disregarded her as a kid throwing a tantrum or something.” 

Hunk paused to shake his head. 

“You know, that manager? He died. Pidge’s brother Matt went to the funeral. Pidge wanted to go herself, but she was worried it would seem too much like an ‘I told you so’. But it wasn’t that. She went to the funerals of all the victims, or as many as she could, because she felt like their deaths were on her. Like she should have found some way to get them out. Her and Lance, man, they just want to save the whole world. Or, they did anyway. Lance probably still does, but I think Pidge has started to understand that it’s impossible. Like earlier, with Shiro. Pidge didn’t want to leave him behind, but she could tell it had to be done. But Lance? I don’t think he stopped looking for an alternate solution up until he pulled off the side of the road. It’s noble of him, but it’s going to destroy him. If it doesn’t get him killed first.” 

“So, you guys feel like you could have stopped anyone from dying?” Keith asked. 

“That’s part of it, yeah.” 

“Part of it? Y-you don’t mean there’s more, do you?” 

“Unfortunately, yeah. I do. See, we were all outside, and Plaxum and her friends decided to have a snowball fight. They were choosing teams, and then all of a sudden, they all went quiet and then Plaxum went “Where’s Florona?” And Lance and I looked at each other like ‘oh shit’ because we realize she must still be inside. And that was about when Pidge got dragged out, and I got distracted by that, and by trying to explain to Luxia that no, Pidge is trying to save people, don’t get mad at her, and then I looked at Lance to help me, but he was gone. He’d gone back inside for Florona. She wasn’t our client, and the client is supposed to be priority, but in that moment he chose to go back for that little girl, and I can’t fault him for that choice because I feel like a monster saying we should have just abandoned her, but at the same time-” Hunk broke off with a sob, and Keith patted him on the back as he struggled to regain his composure. 

“I- I really hated him for doing that. For so long. Because- because, he fucking, he almost died. And it didn’t even make a fucking difference, damn it!” 

“He didn’t find her?” Keith asked, trying to give Hunk some time to breathe by asking a question. 

Hunk shook his head. 

“He did. And that was the worst part for him. He found her. She’d gone to use the bathroom, and came out and no one was there and so she was looking for us, and he found her and they were on their way out when the bomb went off. He had her in his arms, and the blast sent them flying forward. He lived, she didn’t. And while he lived, it was a near thing. He was unconscious for a week after that. We weren’t sure he’d ever wake up. And when he did, we had to tell him what happened, and you could just see him die inside. And- and-” Hunk pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. 

“After he was released from the hospital,” Hunk continued in a calmer voice, “he ended up coming to live with me for a while. Couldn’t stand to be home. His mom- his mom’s an EMT, and she was in the ambulance that took him to the hospital, she put her foot down, said she didn’t want him being a bodyguard anymore. They still argue about that. But uh, what I said before? About Lance is good with kids? He has a lot of siblings. Some are younger than him. One, his one little sister, she’s about the same age as Plaxum is. Was about the same age Florona was. And he just, he couldn’t even look at her. His little sister, and he couldn’t stand to be around her, because it was like his failure staring him in the face.” 

Keith didn’t know what to say. To any of this. What was there to say? 

“Anyway, I bet you can see why nobody would talk about it at our office. Our next couple jobs after that went pretty badly. Like really badly. And so Coran, he went and he got a friend of his, a psychologist, to ‘hire’ us. Only really what he’d do was he’d send two of us off to patrol while having one stay with him, and it would be a therapy session. I’m pretty sure Coran paid him for it rather than the other way around. Or maybe no money was involved. Either way… Lance spent a lot of time as Dr. B’s personal guard. Though me and Pidge had plenty to talk about too. Like I said, I kinda hated that Lance chose to go back for that girl. I resented him for that decision, and her for getting left behind so he made that decision, because I hated every moment spent in that shitty hospital room, praying for Lance to wake up, and I hated that even when my prayers got answered and I got my best friend back, it was all a hoax, because I didn’t really get him back after all, I got this shell of him. He was so empty and lifeless, and I honestly thought that I would never see him smile again. When he finally did, I fucking cried. Just broke down and sobbed all over the place, practically covered his shirt in snot, and honestly I think it was kinda off-putting for him because it was a while before he tried it again. It wasn’t even a real smile, not like before, but even just an attempt at a smile was that much of an improvement. 

“So… yeah. That happened. And it really fucked us all up.” 

“I-” Keith began, but then swallowed. He’d meant to say “I’m sorry,” but that hardly seemed appropriate. It didn’t change what had happened to them. He tried again. “That is, my dad, uh, he was one of the first responders to the garden that day. My parents, they both make it a point to never talk about work at home, but for months after that, I’d hear him crying to my mom in their room at night, because it was that bad.” 

“Yeah, it really was,” Hunk said. “But look, now that you know all this, keep it in mind, okay? If we’re a little extra jumpy, or if we need to take a moment every now and then to breathe, things like that, just bear with us. We’ll get you to Marmora. But we will need to slow down and take care of our mental health to do so.” 

“Yeah. Of course. Don’t worry about it. I’m not so self-centered that I think my life is that important that you have to break yourselves down just for me. Honestly, I’d like it if we all made it out of this alive. And in good mental health. You guys do what you need to do. Take however much time you need. I won’t pressure you.” Keith got up, and headed for the door, planning to claim the next turn in the shower. He stopped about halfway there however, turning back around to face the bigger youth, who was staring at his lap. 

“And, uh, Hunk?” Hunk looked up. 

“Yeah?” 

“Thanks for telling me all that. I may not know what it was like to go through all that, but I do know it must have been horrible, and you probably want nothing more than to forget about it, and telling people about it is kinda the opposite of that. So thanks for taking the time to enlighten me, especially when it is such a painful subject for you.” 

“I figured it was kinda necessary.” 

“Even so, thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All events are fictitious, any resemblance to real life events is coincidental.  
> Tbh, I was kinda basing this a little bit off of the incident with Coran, Lance, and the drone in season 1.


	10. Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of the previous chapter for those who skipped it: Back when Shiro was in the hospital as a result of having saved a client from an assassination attempt by Prorok, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk got caught up in a terroristic event that resulted in the death of a companion of their client, the near-death of Lance, and loads of mental trauma to all.

Keith didn’t sleep a whole lot that first night at the cabin. His thoughts just kept circling back to what Hunk had told him. He remembered the things he’d seen on the news. And that was the aftermath only, and it was footage that was carefully chosen to leave people knowing something horrible had happened, without truly impacting them with just how bad it was. 

The next day, Keith was a little surprised when they didn’t go anywhere, but only marginally so. After all, Hunk had said they would need time to rest, and Pidge had spent so much time setting up a perimeter, so Keith had a feeling they would be staying a while. 

Pidge and Lance continued to keep their distance. Pidge did mumble something of an apology when Keith came out for breakfast, but after that she was off doing her own thing, and Keith wasn’t going to bother her with that. As for Lance, the only time Keith saw him that day was when Hunk convinced him to drive the two of them to the grocery store. They came back loaded down with ingredients, and Lance did help Hunk unload, but afterwards he was back in the room he’d claimed. Lance didn’t even come out for meals, despite the fact that they were delicious. Instead, Pidge would take two plates to his room and go eat with him. She always came out looking even smaller than her size, like a part of her had been shorn away. Keith wondered if she tried to tease Lance at all as they ate. After all, she’d said just the morning before- though it felt like much longer- that teasing was something they did to stay okay. Though thanks to Keith, okay was probably impossible for them just then. 

The day after that passed in much the same way, minus the trip to the grocery store. Keith spent the day combating boredom by fruitlessly trying to think of ways he could help his bodyguards. His friends, really. Or at least, he hoped they were friends. He wanted them to be friends. He certainly cared about them like friends, but at that point, the feeling might very well be one way. 

It wasn’t even that he was the one who had triggered them that made him want to help. Though it certainly did leave a nasty feeling of guilt that lodged in his throat and weighed down his stomach. But also they were such nice people. Not just because they were protecting him. They didn’t have to make him laugh to protect him. They didn’t have to teach him to make giant bubbles, or to sing in the car together, or challenge him to races or any of the things that had happened while he was with them. They didn’t have to do that, but they did anyway, and he was so grateful to them for it. Because of them, what he’d expected to be a miserable, fear-fraught journey crammed uncomfortably in the back of some old truck had turned into a fun road trip. It was only at the end of each day that he remembered that it wasn’t just a good time, that there was a purpose to all this. He did sometimes feel a little guilty, since there was so much at stake and yet here he was having fun, but before he could even think of wallowing they would be taking him off on another adventure. 

Every time Keith tried to think of a solution, he always decided to let the bodyguards take care of themselves. They had been together for years. It had been little over a week since Keith had met them. They could support each other better than he could. 

On the third night, after hours of lying awake without even a trace of sleepiness in Keith’s mind, he decided to get up and make himself some cocoa. He stumbled into the bright light of the kitchen, squinting to see who was on sentry duty. Pidge. They grunted greetings to each other, and Keith moved to the counter to fish through the cabinet for some of the cocoa mix that had been in there when they arrived. It was a little stale, so he had to chip away at it with a spoon to loosen it up, but it was still good. He then got out the milk and began pouring it into a beaker so he could heat it up in the microwave. 

“Use a bigger beaker,” Pidge said, startling him. He jumped, and a little bit of milk spilled on the counter, so he set the jug aside and went to get a dishrag to wipe the spill up. 

“Are you saying you want some cocoa too?” Keith asked as he plucked the cloth out of the sink. 

“Yeah. Hunk and Lance probably will too.” 

“Aren’t they asleep?” 

“Doubtful. None of us have really been sleeping well.” 

“Look, Pidge, I’m so sorry. I-” 

“Keith, how were you supposed to know?” Pidge asked gently, he could feel the pity in her gaze even with his back turned. “Shiro didn’t even know. Doesn’t even know. And Coran kept us from ending up in the news at all, but even if we had been mentioned as survivors or anything, I doubt you’d still remember. You were trying to cheer us up, and we know that. Once we’re more ourselves, we’ll even appreciate it.” 

“That doesn’t change the fact that I-” 

“Feel horrible? We know. And honestly? We’re all sorry to make you feel bad. There’s a lot of feeling sorry going around right now. But feeling sorry isn’t going to get you to Marmora. Feeling better will. So get out a bigger beaker and make us some cocoa. And prepare yourself for Hunk’s criticism, because you know no one can meet his standards but him.” 

Pidge laughed, just once, but it was the first laughter Keith had heard since they’d left the convention center, and it was just about the best thing he’d ever heard right then. Hunk came out shortly after the milk was finished heating, claiming to have heard the beeping of the microwave and that he needed to check and make sure Pidge wasn’t trying to sneak a microwave meal. Pidge rolled her eyes for Keith’s benefit, and Keith snickered as he poured the milk into four different mugs. Hunk came over and pushed him aside to add the cocoa mix himself, sighing ruefully at the lack of homemade whipped cream to go on top. He topped the mugs off with some mini marshmallows and some cinnamon and then passed them around. 

Pidge actually teared up a little as she sipped her cocoa, but Hunk and Keith both pretended not to notice. 

Keith sat with them for a few minutes, not touching his drink just yet since it was still too hot. But he couldn’t ignore the fourth mug sitting on the counter, and so after a while he got up. 

“Aren’t you gonna drink that?” Pidge asked, nodding towards the mug that had been in front of Keith. 

“Yeah, I will, just… I thought I’d take Lance his. Maybe see if he wants to join us?” 

“He won’t,” Hunk said sadly. “And are you sure you don’t want me to take it?” 

“Nah. I still need to apologize for the other day and-” 

“Did you not even listen to me earlier?” Pidge asked, her voice rising to an angry squeak. 

“I did, really! Just… I still want to apologize anyway. I know there’s not a whole lot I can do, but I want to support you guys. Like- like you’ve been supporting me.” Pidge smiled, and Hunk shook his head before coming up to wrap Keith in a hug. 

“Aw, Keith, buddy,” Hunk said, squeezing to the point where Keith’s ribs hurt a little. “Thanks man. I’m really glad we took this job. Otherwise, when would we ever have gotten to know you?” 

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed, wiping at her eyes. Her voice was wavering just a little. “You’ve definitely been one of our better clients. Maybe even the best.” 

“Pfft,” Hunk laughed suddenly. “What do you mean, ‘one of our better clients’? At this point, isn’t he more our friend?” 

“Being our friend doesn’t change the fact that he is our client!” Pidge protested. “And besides, all the good clients become our friends. Like the Balmeras. And Dr. B.” 

“True, true,” Hunk said nodding. 

“So, uh, you gonna let Keith go take Lance that cocoa?” Pidge asked after a moment of silence. 

“Huh? Oh! Right!” Hunk released Keith, and Keith tried not to wheeze. He grabbed his mug and Lance’s, and Hunk and Pidge waved to him as he left the kitchen. 

There was no light under Lance’s door, and Keith wondered if he should just leave the mug outside, or maybe take it back to the kitchen. He knocked with an elbow, being careful not to spill any of the cocoa. The door swung open a little, and he realized it hadn’t been latched all the way. Inside, he could just see Lance, sitting on the bed, staring out the window as the low moonlight shone on his skin. He was so beautiful. 

“Hey, uh Lance?” Keith said, pushing the door open a bit more and entering. It was rude to go in without an invitation, but he figured maybe he could be forgiven if he just dropped off the mug and left. “I brought some cocoa. Hunk made it. Um, I, uh, I’ll leave it here.” Keith deposited the mug on the end table. “Also, uh, I’m really sorry. About what I said before. If I could take it back, I would, because- well, I don’t know much about PTSD, but I know it’s absolute shit, and it would be good if no one had to experience it, or better yet, if no one went through the things that…” Keith trailed off as Lance finally took his eyes off the window and looked at him. The look on the other boy’s face was so sad, he just wanted to hold him close and promise that everything would be okay. They stared at each other in silence for a long moment. 

“Yeah, that really would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Lance said, looking away from Keith and down at his lap instead. 

Keith hesitated, uncertain whether to say anything else or just go, and then Lance patted the mattress, inviting him to sit down. 

“Hunk told you?” Lance asked as Keith eased onto the edge of the bed. 

“Yeah.” 

“It gets me most when I’m trying to fall asleep. Like I don’t really have bad dreams or anything, but I think that’s because I always see that little girl’s face just before I sleep, and it always jolts me wide awake. Like I think I need to go rescue her or something. Just this total adrenaline rush. Every time, until I’m finally too exhausted to stay awake and just pass out. Or sometimes Pidge and Hunk will give me some sleeping pills. They must hate having someone like me around.” 

“Why would they hate having you around?” 

“Because I’m nothing but a burden. I just forced myself on this team to begin with. Why? So I could save people. But I can’t even do that. Couldn’t even save one little girl. Couldn’t save Shiro either. And this? It was all my idea. I thought you were cute so I eavesdropped on your conversation with Coran and I knew the Galra were after you but I still convinced Pidge and Hunk that we should take you as our client, and thanks to that now our families are in danger. I just- I’m no good. I can’t do anything right.” 

“I’ve known you guys for like, a week, and yet even I can tell that they absolutely do not think that of you. Like, 100% certain on that one. Shiro too. And maybe my opinion doesn’t count much, but the same goes for me. You’re pretty amazing Lance. They all rely on you, and so do I. I rely on you to wake me up in the mornings with silly greetings that kind of annoy me but they’re kind of funny at the same time. And I rely on you to make me smile, because you do, like, a lot, and I rely on you to make me feel accepted, because my friends all abandoned me when I came out to them as gay, and I’ve just been so alone until I met you, and you guys were just supposed to be a means to stay alive until I could get to Marmora, and now I’m actually scared of getting there because then I might not ever see you again, but at the same time, if I don’t go then eventually the Overlord’s going to get tired of waiting for them to catch me and he’s just gonna go ahead and kill my parents, and I rely on you to make me forget all that!” 

Keith was embarrassed to realize he was crying. He wasn’t the one who had been through Hell and barely made it back only to get triggered by an oblivious idiot’s words. What right did he have to cry in front of Lance, who had been through way worse than him? 

“Same, kinda. Like, you make me smile too. And I’m also scared of never seeing you again. But uh, did I hear correctly that you’re gay?” 

“Er-” Keith blushed. “Y-yeah. And I’m also kinda crushing on you. Like, big time.” 

Lance made a strange noise that was half-sob and half-laugh. It continued, until it was more laughter than sobbing. 

“What the fuck?” Lance asked the ceiling. “What the actual fuck, this is great but also actually the worst, I don’t believe this.” 

Keith wondered if he should be offended right then. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s funny. It’s so fucked up but it’s funny, because I’ve been ‘kinda crushing on you, like, big time’ as well, and just how unfair is it that we both like each other but in a few days… I’m sorry, I’m just tired out of my mind. Don’t mind me.” 

“Drink your cocoa. It always helps me fall asleep.” 

“Sounds good to me.” Lance grabbed his mug, then held it out to Keith, raising his eyebrows slightly. “Cheers?” 

“Cheers,” Keith said. They clunked their mugs together and then drank up. 

After they’d finished, Keith started to get up, but Lance stopped him with a word. 

“Stay?” 

“Uh…” Keith responded intelligently. Way to go. Real smooth. 

“Just, I’d rather not be alone. And if I have a… a moment, then it’ll be nice to have a familiar face to anchor me to the here and now, y’know?” 

“Um, sure, I guess.” Keith set his mug on the end table beside Lance’s while the other boy lay down. Keith slowly lowered himself next to Lance, facing him. It made him a little nervous. 

“Tell me about some of your past jobs? The ones that weren’t awful, I mean.” 

And so Keith fell asleep listening to Lance tell him about the Balmera family, and how Lance and Pidge and Hunk had all rescued their daughter Shay after she’d been kidnapped, thus taking on their first-ever job. 

* * *

If Pidge and Hunk were surprised to see Lance at breakfast the next morning, they kept it to themselves. However, all of them, Keith included, kept reaching out to break the touch barrier, as if trying to reassure each other that everything was okay, and to reassure themselves that everyone was still there. 

Lance was trying very hard to stay positive. They all told him that he didn’t need to force himself, but he insisted that he’d had enough of moping. And so he told Keith more about their past clients. He told Keith about the bean incident in more detail, and the mice incident, and more about the guy from Unilu, and about Alberto Brightwings the macaw, and about Haggar the suspicious old lady who was so sketchy that Coran and Allura even congratulated them on getting fired by her after only half a day, and many others. Hunk and Pidge would occasionally pitch in, but they left most of the storytelling to Lance. Keith had to admit, Lance had a certain dramatic flare for storytelling, having Keith at the edge of his seat at times, or in stitches from laughing so hard at others. More than once Keith fell out of his chair, to the point where Pidge started teasing Lance that he was gonna get them in trouble if their client got bruised from laughing too hard. 

“Okay, but let me tell you about the guy who really takes the cake,” Lance said as they were playing a game of spoons. “He was both really awesome, and at the same time, a thousand times worse than any of our other clients.” 

“Oh no,” Hunk moaned, while Pidge cackled. Keith had to double check that the spoons were still in place before he realized that they knew exactly who Lance was talking about. 

“Oh man, if Shiro were here, his blood pressure would be so high just from you mentioning that guy,” Pidge laughed. 

“So Shiro was part of your team when you worked for this guy?” Keith asked. 

“Yeah, it was probably our second or third job with Shiro on the team,” Lance said nodding. “Anyway, this guy, he was like this crazy smart scientist and statistician, like, even Pidge acknowledged he was smart, but as well as crazy smart, he was also just plain crazy.” 

“Slav,” Hunk said, shaking his head. 

“Slav,” Lance nodded. “He was pretty cool at times, but man could he be a pain. He was SUPER paranoid. Like, he insisted we triple check all the locks on his property and all his security cameras- there were only about 200-” 

“326, actually,” Pidge said. 

“-and he wanted constant patrols. Actually, what he really wanted was a horde of bodyguards surrounding his house at all times, but no one was willing to provide that. And all that triple checking? He tended to make us triple check everything again. And again. I think the worst was the night he made us check everything a grand total of 84 times. It took us almost until dawn.” 

“Yeesh. Sounds like a nightmare.” 

“Oh, but it gets better!” Lance said cheerfully. “Because as paranoid as this guy was, he had also had zero common sense! Like he would wake up in the middle of the night and decide to go buy cookies, and he wouldn’t want to wait for whoever was on sentry duty to wake the rest of the team. He also believed in some sort of new age-y spiritualism shit, and so he’d get very particular about things at times. Like sometimes he would insist that we had to walk down sketchy alleyways to prevent hurricanes in Nepal, nevermind that Nepal isn’t exactly a hurricane-prone place, and he would tell us not to eat any food items that were spelled using the letter ‘T’ or had ingredients spelled using the letter ‘T’. Hunk really tripped him up that time though, because Hunk discovered that it applied only to food items and not drinks, and so he got into this huge debate with Slav about what did and didn’t count as a drink. Soup wasn’t, so we ended up eating soup because do you know just how many things are made with ingredients that have the letter ‘T’ in them?” 

“Wow, you poor things,” Keith said, half sarcastic as he slipped a spoon from the pile. 

“I know! Even Coran had a hard time dealing with him, so just let that sink in and tell you how difficult he was. Ah!” The last syllable was cried as Lance noticed that there were only two spoons left, and dove for them. There was a mild scuffle as Pidge and Hunk threw their cards aside and reached for the spoons as well. Elbows flew. Hair was pulled. Faces were clawed. In the end, Lance and Pidge emerged victorious, spoons in hand, while Hunk sulkingly nursed a finger that had been bent backwards. 

That night, Keith spent the night in Lance’s room again. Like so many things in the last couple of days, if it was noticed, and it almost certainly was, it went unmentioned. Or, mostly unmentioned, since Pidge did crack a joke the next morning about noises in the night that left both of them blushing as it implied that they’d been up to something they most certainly hadn’t. They weren’t like _that_ or anything. But Hunk and Pidge found it hilarious, and it was nice to see them laughing, even if it was at Keith and Lance’s expense. 

But nothing lasted forever, and after breakfast it was decided that they would leave the following day. Keith was concerned the others weren’t ready, but they all insisted that to stay any longer would be too risky. Five nights was long enough. 

They spent their final day in the cabin playing board games that were in a closet and watching more of Shiro’s old videos. Pidge even went ahead and showed them the MySpace profile that had been mentioned, which had them all hooting with laughter. As the day drew long, they decided to watch a movie. Hunk wanted to watch some horror movie, but Pidge, in a spurt of kindness so rare that they all feared it was a sign of the apocalypse, instead put on a heartwarming children’s movie. They set up some blanket hammocks to watch it in, but chose not to make popcorn because the last time they’d had popcorn, Shiro had gotten hurt, and so they all felt that they wouldn’t want to eat any for a while. 

That night, as they lay in bed, Lance pulled Keith close and kissed his forehead. Keith responded in kind, trying to hold back tears. He wanted this. He wanted it so bad. But Pidge estimated that they had about nine hours left before they reached Marmora, and they were going to do it the next day. Meaning by the same time the next day, everything would be over. This whole trip. This friendship. This not-quite-romance between him and Lance. Done. Just like that. 

Breakfast. The last one, probably. Hunk made them all oatmeal, and Keith felt a pang of jealousy that Pidge and Lance would still have meals like this in the future, while Keith would probably go back to his morning diet of processed foods that went in the toaster. Then it was time for Pidge and Hunk to trek around the cabin to gather up all Pidge’s sensors while Lance and Keith loaded up the car. Once they were all back together, Keith made to get into his usual spot in the back seat, but Lance stopped him, and held out a hand, opening a few fingers so that the keys that had been enclosed in his fist dangled in front of Keith. 

“Wanna drive?” he asked. 

“But I thought the driver’s seat was supposed to be dangerous,” Keith replied, a little confused. 

“Lance does not surrender the wheel so easily,” Hunk called from the passenger seat where he had already seated himself. “He’s probably thought this through. Probably.” 

“I _have_ thought this through,” Lance said, rolling his eyes, “and what I concluded is this: Keith might- and I said _might_ \- be an even better driver than me.” Both Hunk and Pidge snorted, and Pidge muttered something that sounded a lot like “Only might? Just keep telling yourself that.” 

Lance continued, unperturbed. 

“He demonstrated some pretty smooth skills on the ATVs the other day, and as such, I am willing to concede the wheel in order to take up the helm of backseat sharpshooter, because there is no way any of y’all could ever outclass me at that.” 

“I could if you’d given me time to pack the rifle I’ve been modifying,” Pidge retorted. Lance flapped a hand at her. 

“So Hunk, you know what that means, right?” Lance asked. 

“That I should do what I do best?” Hunk replied, grinning. 

“Yuppers.” 

Keith felt strangely nervous as he got into the driver’s seat. He hadn’t been so afraid of driving even when it was his first time behind the wheel. He put his hands and took a deep breath, fantasizing that in another life he was actually a part of their team, and this was his rightful place. His fantasy didn’t last long, because his arms were stretched out rather far and his feet couldn’t quite reach the pedals and he had to move the seat forward because both Lance and Shiro had ridiculously long limbs. He also had to adjust the mirrors a bit, and then they were ready. 

As they drove, they silently agreed to listen to Shiro’s music that day. It would be kinda like he was there. And after the trip they’d been on, they’d all grown used to one another’s tastes. Keith had a feeling that when he got a chance, he’d be making himself a playlist of some of the songs that had stuck with him the most. 

They discussed car games to play, and decided on asking questions that they would all have to answer. They started with such topics as “milkshakes or malts” and moved on to things like “would you rather receive fifteen minutes of fame for walking into your celebrity crush, or for falling down the stairs and becoming a meme?” And then, on Keith’s third turn to ask, he found himself saying “What’s the fastest you’ve ever made friends with someone?” 

“Probably Shay,” Hunk admitted. “I mean, yeah we saved her life, but she was just so nice.” 

“Hunk, the two of you are both so sickeningly sweet and barely have a mean bone in your bodies, so I’m pretty sure becoming instant friends and eventual sweethearts was inevitable for you and Shay,” Pidge said, leaning forward between the front seats to speak. 

“We- we’re not-!” 

“Sweethearts? No, not yet you’re not, because you can be pretty dense about romantic things,” Pidge sighed. “Lance?” 

“Oh. Uh… Well, what do you mean exactly, the fastest you’ve made friends with someone? Like, do you mean the fastest you’ve reached the moment where you want to be friends with someone? Or the fastest you’ve decided you must already be friends with someone, or the fastest they’ve decided that they’re friends with you, or the fastest it is mutually acknowledged that you are friends? Because like, first one? Dude, I have looked at literally hundreds of people and thought ‘I want to be friends with them.’ You included, Keith.” 

“That’s not shallow at all,” Hunk mumbled. 

“And as for the second, I really don’t know, because I talk to people once and am like ‘yeah, we’re friends!’ Except then I wonder if maybe they just found me annoying, and actually kinda hated me. And I start second-guessing things, and until they say we’re friends I spend the whole time freaking out because what if we’re not friends, y’know?” 

“Speaking as your friend, yeah, you are annoying,” Hunk said. “But because we’re your friends, we don’t care.” 

“Way to boost my confidence man. Anyways, Pidgio?” Lance scooped a shoulder downward as he turned his upper body dramatically to face Pidge. 

“Pass,” Pidge said. 

“W-what?! You can’t pass!” 

“I wanna pass Lance! It’s super embarrassing, especially after what you just said.” 

“How so?” 

“Ugh.” 

“Pidge, come on, tell us.” Lance reached over and poked Pidge, who slapped his hand away. 

“Ugh!” 

“Please?” 

“Ugh, fine. The fastest I’ve ever made friends with someone was when I met Lance,” Pidge grumbled. 

“Wait, seriously?” Hunk asked. 

“Wow, I even outclassed Hunk?” Lance asked. 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get a big head,” Pidge grumbled. “I just didn’t trust Hunk at first because he was so nice. It seemed a little… too nice. I thought it had to be fake.” 

“Pidge, we met when you were like, four,” Hunk said. 

“Yeah, and?” 

“What the hell kind of a four-year-old thinks someone is too nice?” 

“One who is intelligent and has a firm grasp on stranger danger and the fact that people are scum.” 

“You really worry me sometimes.” 

“Hmph.” Pidge crossed her arms and looked out the window. 

“Besides, when you met Lance, didn’t you tornado kick him?” Hunk asked, turning around to raise his eyebrows at Pidge. 

“I tried to, yeah. It was a pretty lousy kick.” 

“Still knocked him on his butt.” 

“I think he was just surprised, mostly.” 

“Wait, why were you kicking Lance when you’d only just met?” Keith asked. 

“Because I walked in the room and he started being all patronizing and calling me cute.” 

“And he was your fastest friend?” 

“Yeah. Because after I knocked him on his butt, he sat there for a moment, and was about to cry, except then he wiped his nose and got to his feet and was all like ‘wow, that was amazing! Can you teach me how to do that?’ and I was like ‘you’ve gotta learn the basics first’ and he was like ‘yeah! Teach me!’ just super excited, and he had the worst fighting stance I’d ever seen, but he was okay with me teaching him and I was touched by that I guess. People always disregard me because I’m small, but he was willing to acknowledge my expertise and learn from me, and I thought ‘hey, maybe this kid is actually cool.’ Turns out I was wrong and he is the complete opposite of cool, but we still get along.” 

“Hey! I am not the complete opposite of cool!” Lance protested. 

“I dunno,” Keith drawled, earning himself a hurt look from Lance. “I think you’re pretty hot.” 

Lance turned super red, Hunk burst out laughing, and Pidge looked mildly offended to be in the same car as any of them. 

“A-and anyways, was I really the worst fighting stance you’ve ever seen?” 

“At the time you were. But I’ll admit, I’ve seen worse since then. Like some of the skits for the cosplay competition at the con?” All three bodyguards shuddered. 

“Yeah, that guy cosplaying Goku was so bad. Though maybe that was the point? Like, irony or something?” Hunk said. 

“Maybe,” Pidge said. “But I believe that just leaves Keith?” 

“So, the fastest I’ve ever made friends with someone, huh?” Keith said, pretending to think about it. “Well, funny story. So, I was visiting a family friend one day, and ended up sitting by myself, when all of a sudden these three people just walk right up to me and introduce themselves. At first they seemed kinda shady, but then someone I knew endorsed them, so I thought, what they heck, I’ll trust them, and here we are. Several hundred miles later, and still having fun.” 

“Awwww,” Pidge cooed. “Guys, I think Keith just won this one.” 

“I didn’t know it was a competition,” Hunk said. 

“Hunk, you hang out with me,” Lance said. “You should know by now that literally everything can be, and is, a competition. And gosh darnit, as much as I hate to admit it, Pidge is right. Keith is definitely the winner. Though I suppose it’s hardly a surprise, considering he’s the champion of my heart.” 

“I think next bathroom break, you and me need to switch seats,” Pidge said. “Because with him in front of me and you beside me, there’s lovey-dovey-ness on two sides of me and it’s rather sickening.” 

Their last lunch together ends up being burgers again, but this time at a retro-styled burger joint. Keith enjoyed the barbecue sauce the place had to put on their food, and the onion rings were good too, and he and Lance almost got them all kicked out for trying to blow the wrappers of their straws at each other. 

And then they hit the final stretch. Only a few more hours until they would reach Marmora. Only a few more hours until it’d all be over.


	11. Ride or Die

Keith felt like he couldn’t breathe. They’d made it to Marmora, and with a little help from Pidge, had made it to a hotel called The Luxite Inn. This was it. This was where it all ended. They would go in, and he would ask them to rescue his parents, offering up what he knew in return. He only hoped it was enough. Sure, the Overlord had maintained his position through his secrecy, which made him untouchable, and Keith’s information could change that, but would the people he had come to meet be willing to take the risks needed to rescue his parents for just a name? 

The bodyguards clustered around Keith as they approached the hotel, and he was grateful for it. It was comforting. How ironic that on the day they’d all met, the same behavior had unnerved him. Things had changed since then. And they were about to change again. He had to wipe away a tear, and when he lowered his hand again, Lance grabbed it and squeezed once, sending warmth up Keith’s arm and straight to his heart. On his other side, Pidge bumped up against him, and when he glanced at her she offered him a small smile. It only made him want to cry more, because god would he miss them. But at least he wasn’t so scared now. 

Inside the hotel foyer, they turned away from the main lobby and instead headed through the doors to an adjoining restaurant called The Blade and Fork. They went up to the host’s booth, and Keith could tell Hunk was about to ask for a table, but Keith beat him to it. 

“We have a reservation,” he said quickly. The bodyguards kept their faces smooth and blank, but since he was wedged between them all he could feel the way they tensed up at this words. He mentally apologized for not saying anything to them sooner, but when his parents had told him of these people, they had impressed upon him the need for secrecy. Never tell anyone more than they absolutely need to know. 

“Under what name?” the host asked. 

“Krolia.” It was a code name his mom had told him to use. 

The host snapped their fingers, summoning a man with glasses. 

“Regris will take you to your table, Krolia,” the host said. 

“Thank you,” Keith said, swallowing thickly. He was nervous again. He just wanted everything to work out. 

“Welcome to The Blade and Fork,” Regris said. He continued chattering on about the restaurant, but Keith didn’t really hear him. He followed mutely as Regris lead them through the restaurant, but did tune in when the bodyguards hovered even closer to him, noticing they were headed for a door at the back and hearing Regris say “I do apologize. Due to some in-progress renovations, the only way to reach the VIP room your reservation is in is through the kitchen. Consider it an opportunity to take note of our sanitary kitchen conditions and efficient preparation methods, and enjoy the knowledge that your meal will not have to travel far to reach you.” 

“That would be good to know,” Hunk agreed. “Do you know how many germs food can pick up as it travels across a room?” He shuddered. 

“Indeed.” Regris smiled as he nodded back at Hunk, and they all headed through the door in question. They wound their way through the kitchens to a service hallway, and followed that to the back door of a conference room. 

“Given that it is dinnertime, I did bring some menus for you, but something tells me that you did not come here for the cuisine, Keith Kogane,” Regris said as he ushered them in. 

Instantly all three bodyguards were in front of Keith and in defensive postures. Lance had even drawn a handgun. 

“I mean your client no harm,” Regris promised. “Nor does anyone here. But if you’d like evidence, I can provide it. Would one of you mind texting Takashi Shirogane? Use the phrase ‘knowledge or death’.” 

“Knowledge or death? That sounds a bit extreme,” Pidge said. “Keith, would you mind texting Shiro that phrase, followed by the question 'Do you ever wonder why are we here?'” 

Keith complied, not sure what else to do. While he typed out the text, and for the long moments after while he waited for a response, wondering if he’d even get one, the standoff continued. Then finally, after a long moment, the phone in his hand whistled at him, and he opened up the text. 

“‘The sixth stanza of the poem Alice read in the mirror,’” Keith read aloud. “What does that even mean?” 

The bodyguards apparently knew what it meant, however, as they all relaxed. Or at least, they abandoned their fighting stances. They still stayed between Keith and Regris and remained alert. 

“It’s ‘Jabberwocky’,” Lance explained. “The sixth stanza is where the son returns after slaying the Jabberwock. It means this guy is safe. Allegedly.” 

“And what are the odds that he isn’t safe?” 

“Do any of us look like Slav to you? We don’t do that kind of statistics.” 

“He probably is safe, but we really can’t take any chances,” Hunk said. “One of our colleagues got killed that way. As did their client. It’s one of the cautionary tales they tell everyone at the agency now.” 

“You may not trust me, but will you at least sit down?” Regris asked. The four of them complied, and Regris handed four menus to Hunk rather than come anywhere near Keith. Hunk passed the menus down, then took one look at the listings and moaned. 

“Oh man. Spinach and potato gnocchi? Ugh, and seared scallops? Shrimp scampi? Pasta Puttanesca? Oooo, with artichoke hearts? Man, how am I supposed to decide when everything sounds so good?” 

“Our chefs would be happy to hear you say that,” Regris said, amused. 

“Easy there, Hunk,” Pidge said. “You can try all the things the rest of us order, so calm down.” 

“That’s still only four dishes, and there’s a lot more than four dishes on this menu, Kaitlyn!” 

“Eek,” Lance said, flinching. “Not the full name card.” 

“How does Kaitlyn become Pidge?” Keith asked in a whisper. 

“No idea. It got shortened to Katie, but then she became Pidge somewhere along the way. I think Matt may have started it, so if you really wanna know, then ask him if you get the chance. Personally, I say, she says to call her Pidge, I’m gonna call her Pidge. It’s what you do. Plus, her bad side is a very unpleasant place to be.” 

“Hunk, you’re dead to me,” Pidge said as they had their whispered conversation. 

“Pidge, I’ve been dead to you for years. At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m some kind of zombie. Rawr.” 

After a bit more squabbling, they finally managed to decide on their orders, and Regris took their menus and went to place their orders in the kitchens. He kept up his amused smile the whole time. 

If anything, the bodyguards seemed even more tense without Regris in the room. Keith wasn’t sure what they expected, but he almost fell out of his chair when Regris returned and the bodyguards all jumped to their feet. They calmed a bit when they saw Regris, but tensed up again when they saw that he was accompanied by a giant of a man who was helping to carry their plates. 

“Why are you all so tense?” the giant asked. 

“Antok, you are 6 and a half feet tall and built like a brick latrine. You scare people, including me. Of course they’re tense,” Regris chided. 

“The only people who need to be scared of me are Galra,” Antok grumbled, but he too understood the need to keep his distance from Keith. Though that might have been influenced by the way Lance cocked his pistol when Antok started to get a little too close. 

They ate, and Hunk did indeed get a portion of everyone else’s meals. They didn’t speak, concentrating on their food and on maintaining constant vigilance. They had just finished and Regris was taking their emptied plates when the main door to the conference room they were in- the one opposite the one they’d entered from and were seated near- opened, and a group of people came in. The bodyguards were once again instantly on their feet, and Pidge moved from her spot between Lance and Hunk to stand between Keith and the newcomers instead while Lance moved forward to Keith’s side. How many people entered the room right then, Keith couldn’t say, as his attention was narrowed down to just two of them. 

His parents. 

* * *

Years of training had led to certain things becoming automatic. So when the main doors opened and admitted a cluster of people, the bodyguards rearranged themselves without even thinking. Hunk stayed at the rear, blocking off the more imminent threat, while Pidge moved to be ready to intercept the new arrivals since Lance was best at ranged combat. 

Also automatic was taking in every last detail and assessing the danger levels. 

There were a total of ten new arrivals- seven men and three women. Lance recognized six of them and flinched. He had no idea how Coran had known they would end up here specifically, but there the man was, accompanied as ever by Allura. Also present was Shiro, being pushed along in a wheelchair, the pinched face of Trigel, the broad girth of Gyrgan, and also a person with limp hair that Lance realized had to be what Blaytz looked like without his trademark hair gel. In fact, all of them looked a little hastily put-together. Allura’s hair was falling out of its bun, Trigel was not wearing her usual cat’s eye eyeliner, Coran’s moustache looked like it hadn’t been trimmed for quite some time, and Gyrgan’s shoes were on the wrong feet. All of them had baggy eyes, and shirts weren’t tucked in properly, and Blaytz’s clothes clashed in a way he wouldn’t usually allow. 

As for the remaining four people, the one man and woman looked a lot like Keith. Or rather, Keith looked a lot like them. They had to be Keith’s parents. And one of the other men had some similar features to Keith’s mom, suggesting further familiar relations. Only the last man in the group was completely unfamiliar. 

As the doors closed behind the new entrants to the room, the two people who looked liked Keith spotted him and froze. They stared right through Pidge as if she wasn’t there, having eyes only for their son. They looked shocked, like they couldn’t believe he was actually there. Maybe they couldn’t. Lance and the others had taken Keith for an almost two-week jaunt off the maps. In his peripheral vision, Lance could see Keith staring back at his parents in much the same way. Lance kinda wanted to stare at them like that too, since people who were taken by the Overlord didn’t simply appear at hotel restaurants several hundred miles away. But being a bodyguard meant ignoring impulses like surprise and instead keeping up one’s awareness. 

Keith took a halting step forward, nudging his way past Pidge, then another. His parents also stumbled forward, pushing their way out of the center of the cluster of newcomers. Lance never once let the group leave his sight, but he did watch as the distance between Keith and his parents narrowed, and then Keith suddenly ran the last few steps to embrace both his parents. As soon as they hugged, tears began flowing down their faces. 

The touching reunion didn’t last long, however, because all of a sudden, Coran cleared his throat, and Gyrgan, Trigel, and Blaytz all yelled out battle cries and charged, Trigel jumping onto the table to run across it while Gyrgan and Blaytz ran along the side, dodging to either side of Keith and his parents who were startled out of their warm hug. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk all screamed, but they knew running was futile and so they stood their ground and prepared for some pain. 

Trigel was the first to reach them, and leapt off the table to land in a crouch next to Pidge, swinging her body out to sweep the younger girl off her feet and into her arms. Blaytz came next, using his running start to capture Lance with a flying triangle choke. As he was knocked to the ground, Lance caught a glimpse of Hunk’s terrified expression as Gyrgan came barreling in for the tackle. He also saw Trigel hugging Pidge in a rare show of warmth he would have thought the older woman incapable of, and there was Keith, face streaked with tear trails and trying to suppress a grin, and Lance swore he saw his life flashing through his eyes right about then, because Keith without the fear that had plagued his every expression for the past two weeks was absolute murder. Happiness looked good on him. Though maybe Lance’s flashing life was more because Blaytz really wasn’t holding back and so Lance wasn’t getting much done in the respiration department right about then. 

And then, just when Lance thought he’d breathed his last, he was being dragged to his feet, as were Pidge and Hunk, and Allura was bearing down on them. Ohhhhh shiit. 

“You three had better have a very good explanation for yourselves,” Allura spat in an icy tone as she came to a stop in front of them. The three in question all flinched. Even though they were already trapped they still found themselves looking for an escape route. 

Allura tapped her foot impatiently, arms folded as she glared at them. 

“Allura, I’m really sorry,” Lance began. “It was all my idea and-” 

Hunk cut him off with a cough. 

“Well it’s not like we tried to stop you at all,” Pidge said. Lance turned to face the other two with a fierce scowl that translated to _Guuyyyys. I’m trying to get you two off the hook here!_

Pidge rolled her eyes, translating to _Dude, just stop trying to be a hero. We’re a team, and so we are in this together for better or for worse._

Hunk stuck out a lip in a pout that translated to _Yeah! What she said!_

“You’re sorry?” Allura said, her tone deadly. The three gulped because they had almost managed to forget she was there and that, because she was in fact there, they were in deep shit. “You’re sorry?!? You being sorry doesn’t change the fact that we were worried sick about you idiots!” Allura lunged forward, but rather than attacking them, she gathered the three up in a hug tighter than even Hunk could manage, and broke down into messy tears. She was joined by Coran, who sniffled a fond “Welcome back” to his young employees. 

“Are you quite finished?” the stranger who didn’t look at all related to Keith asked. 

“Oh, sorry Kolivan, we can take this outside if you want,” Blaytz said cheerfully. 

“It’s easier to debrief if everyone’s here,” Kolivan replied. “However, Antok, Regris, don’t you two have other things to be doing?” 

“I’m pretty sure that staying here right now is veeeery important,” Antok replied. There was a slight “oof” sound, the kind that happened when an elbow was thrust into someone’s gut, and then Regris said “We’ll be going now. Please excuse us.” There was the sound of the door, indicating that the two men had left. 

“Now, if everyone could take a seat?” Kolivan suggested, and Coran and Allura released everyone from their clutches. 

“Already done,” Shiro said. Lance looked up just in time to see Kolivan scowl, causing Shiro to mutter, “Not my fault the doctors have told me not to stand.” 

“Oh, but it is your fault,” Allura said, her hearing as keen as ever. “You’re the one who went and got yourself injured, and then reopened the wound by trying to walk around the very next day!” 

Shiro scratched the back of his head and refrained from further comment as everyone else found places to sit. Lance tried not to be disappointed that Keith’s parents stole the seats on either side of him. “Tried” being a key word there. Keith’s parents would get to spend time with him all they wanted after this. Lance… wouldn’t. 

“First off, congratulations on your safe arrival,” Kolivan said to Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and Lance. “As unlikely as it was, you beat the odds and made it here almost undetected. Not many can claim such a feat. However, next time I suggest you leave it to the professionals.” 

Lance bristled, as did Pidge and Hunk. But they kept their mouths shut, as they were unfortunately all too used to this sort of patronizing behavior. That’s what happened when you started working as a bodyguard at fifteen-and-a-half. Or in Pidge’s case, thirteen. 

“Begging your pardon, but they are professionals,” Shiro said. 

“Debatable,” Trigel countered. 

“They are unprofessional in behavior, but professionally trained,” Allura said, silencing them both with a glare. 

“I meant professionals as in those who have experience undermining the Galra,” Kolivan said. “Namely, the members of my organization.” 

“Except, catch 22 for you, I had to get here first to even reach your organization,” Keith spat. 

“Keith,” Keith’s dad warned. 

“No, he does have a point,” said the as-yet-unintroduced newcomer who looked a bit like Keith’s mom. 

“I’m sure you would have found a way to reach him, Niles,” Keith’s mom said. 

“Regardless, what the five of you did was foolhardy, and you were lucky to survive,” Kolivan said. 

“Well, if we were lucky, then what about Keith’s parents?” Pidge asked. “According to Keith, the Overlord abducted them with the intent to execute them.” 

“He did,” Keith’s mom said. 

“So what happened?” Pidge asked. 

“How about we start at the beginning, Tori?” Keith’s dad said. 

“Then you tell it,” Keith’s mom snapped. 

“I was going to. You skimp on details like every word is painful.” 

“Hmph.” 

“So to start with, we were looking into leads on who the Overlord was. We managed to chase a lead that led us to suspect James Zarkon and his wife Wanda Haggar, but we had no evidence. And when we went looking for it, well, we must have alarmed him since he came for us.” 

Lance’s face was as calm as ever, but internally he was kinda screaming. James Zarkon was the Overlord? The James Zarkon? The same James Zarkon who the high school Lance’s siblings went to was named after, the famous badminton champ who was everyone’s hometown hero, who Lance’s uncle had an autograph from, that James Zarkon? Oh wow. 

And wait. Wanda Haggar? Their team had worked for her! She was the one who was so creepy Allura had actually been glad when they got fired! What a small world. 

Only, since they’d been assigned to Haggar shortly after the Galra assassin Prorok had gone after Shiro’s client and been foiled, maybe not so small after all. 

“From there the story is pretty boring, of course. We were being held until the Overlord could get ahold of Keith and do his whole ‘make a show of killing the entire family of his enemies’ thing, but Keith was evading his men so we kept getting interrogated as to where Keith was hiding, were told on a regular basis that we were going to die painfully, yada yada yada, and then Thace showed up.” 

Yeesh, there was another name that tested the strength of Lance’s poker face. The Overlord had many assassins, but there were a few who stood out more than others, and their names were well-known. Like Prorok, who was known thanks to Shiro. Or Sendak, who was the infamous right hand of the Overlord, suspected to be the only person who knew the actual identity of the Overlord. Until now anyway. And then there was Thace. Thace was famous as “The Magician”, because he didn’t simply kill his victims: he left no trace of them. 

“I must say, I was rather surprised to discover that the infamous Magician was not only secretly smuggling his so-called-victims to safety and acting as a spy for the Blade, he was also apparently my wife’s brother that she never. Once. Mentioned. Ever.” 

“You might have recalled my maiden name is Thace,” Keith’s mom said wryly. “I honestly would have thought you’d notice.” 

“I told people right in front of you that we were both only children and you never bothered to correct me, Victoria.” 

“Well once he was spying for the Galra it wasn’t a fact we wanted people to know.” 

“Am I- Am I understanding correctly in that you’re saying I have an uncle?” Keith asked. “And you never told me about him?!?” 

“See! You might have thought to say something to your husband and son, at least,” Keith’s dad argued. 

“Just finish the story, Toby.” 

“Right. So anyway, turns out, Thace, or Niles, is actually a good guy. And he got us out of there. Buuut he kinda got compromised in the process and so he ended up having to flee with us. Still, with his help, we were able to take a boat to an airport owned by the Blade and we were flown here. We’ve been here over a week already, and let me tell you, it was pretty alarming to show up and be told, ‘by the way, no one has a clue where your son is.’ Only then there was a clue, but by the time anyone got there you were already gone.” 

“As for your side of things, we got most of it from Mr. Shirogane,” Keith’s mom said to her son, “but we don’t know about where you’ve been since you left him.” The way she vocalized it, it was less like a statement and more like a question with a demand for an answer attached. 

“Olkarion, mostly,” Keith answered. “The woods there. We found a nice quiet place to lay low for a bit before heading here.” 

“Oo, nice,” Keith’s dad said, nodding. 

“It’s almost ironic since we were planning on assigning you three to a group from Olkarion,” Allura said. “But anyway, we’ve established what has happened up until now, but we still need to discuss how things will proceed moving forward.” 

“Well, obviously the Kogane-Thace family needs to go into hiding until we can have Zarkon convicted,” Kolivan said. “My organization will handle that.” 

“Of course,” Allura said. “Unless Coran has any objections?” 

“No, no, it all sounds very good to me,” Coran said. He didn’t really seem to be paying much attention though, as he was busy with a handheld gaming console of some sort. Coran may have been the boss of more than half the people present, but he hated dealing with the actual business aspects of things, and tended to find other ways to spend meetings while leaving Allura to handle the important stuff. “Wha- how dare you, you little fleznit! Take that! Ha-! Nooooooo!” 

“As for our four miscreants…” Allura began, looking at Kolivan to see if he had anything to say. 

“Aside from Mr. Shirogane, it seems they remained unidentified. We could use Shirogane if you would lend him to us for the time being, but the other three should be fine returning to your base of operations, so long as they keep a low profile.” 

Allura glanced sidelong at Hunk, Lance, and Pidge. 

“Low profiles, huh,” she murmured. “That might be a bit of a challenge.” 

“Come on, come on!” Coran growled at his game. 

“The Galra will have other things to worry about once Zarkon and Haggar’s trials begin,” Kolivan said. “If that eases your concern any.” 

“With all due respect sir,” Trigel said, “you do not understand just how chaotic those three are. They are a constant source of concern, and where there is trouble to be gotten into, they will surely find it.” 

“Please tell me you have something extra juicy on her,” Lance hissed from the side of his mouth to Pidge. 

“No way!” Pidge hissed back. “Trigel’s cool. Plus her behavior is admirably close to perfect.” 

“New theory, Trigel is a robot designed by your dad.” 

Allura growled at them to stop their whispering. Lance tried to look innocent, while Pidge began to whistle the theme from “The Twilight Zone”. Lance shuddered. That show was freaky. 

“Yes, yes,” Coran cheered, then gasped. “Whyyyyyyy?” 

“Given the journey everyone had, you would all be more than welcome to stay and rest a few more nights here at our hotel,” Kolivan said, proving some very strong skills in ignoring distractions. Lance’s respect for this guy was climbing quickly. Most people would have had to leave the room or take some painkillers or kick somebody out by now, but Kolivan didn’t even have any pulsing veins. Impressive. 

“That would be most appreciated,” Allura said. “Though we shouldn’t need to stay too long. In fact, I anticipate us leaving tomorrow, as there is no sense in lingering. We do have things to be getting back to, and if Shiro will be staying on in your care, it doesn’t seem that we will need to wait for anyone to recover.” 

Lance wasn’t sure he actually kept up his poker face that time. It felt strained. And kinda like a constipation grimace. Leaving tomorrow? Already? But they’d just gotten here. And… And they’d just say goodbye and that would be it? 

No. 

Lance wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready to leave Keith behind, he wasn’t ready to go home and explain to his dad what the hell he’d been up to and argue with his mom about continuing down this path, especially since he’d been near caving before, but now that they’d helped Keith there was no way he could quit. Keith had needed him. Other people might too. 

“There may be no sense in lingering, but there is also no need to rush your return,” Kolivan said. “You may stay as long as you need. We are something akin to allies, after all.” 

Lance wanted to kiss the man, because yes! 

“Again, thank you, but we really have neglected our operation for far too long,” Allura said. “We have clients to get back to, and plenty of work piled up. We appreciate your hospitality, but we will not be infringing upon it much further at this time.” 

“Understandable.” 

Goddamnit Allura. 

So that was it then. 

Lance briefly considered doing something drastic to force them to stay, but decided it wasn’t worth it. He had better to make sure to say his goodbyes while he could then. 

* * *

Keith’s opinion of his uncle went up several points when the man slipped him a note containing the number of the room Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were staying in. For the most part, Keith wasn’t sure what to think of this Uncle Niles or Thace or whatever he was called. He thought that maybe with time, he’d come to like the guy, but for now, he just didn’t know what to make of him. 

Keith begged off from chatting with his parents too long, claiming that he was tired after a long day of driving. Which he was. But also, he’d have all the time in the world to talk to his parents from tomorrow on. His friends on the other hand, were the opposite: starting from tomorrow, he wouldn’t be able to talk to them again. So he went to his room and waited a bit, writing a note just in case because he could totally see someone coming to check on him while he was gone and going into a panic about him not being there. When he thought a proper amount of time had passed to have gotten ready for bed, he turned out the lights, and then waited a bit more before slipping out of his room and making his way through the halls to the room number he’d been given. 

A large man with loose jowls and arms tattooed with lots of triangles answered the door. He was one of the guys from earlier, the one that had tackled Hunk. 

“Uh…” Keith stammered, wondering if he’d gotten the wrong door. Shit. 

“Guys, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you’re really lousy bodyguards,” the man called behind him. 

“What’d we do now?” Lance’s voice whined from inside, and Keith felt himself perk up a bit. Ouch. Was he that far gone that just the sound of Lance’s voice was enough to cheer him up like that? 

“Well I wouldn’t ever let my client wander about alone in a strange environment,” the man called back. 

There was a lot of rapid thudding, and then the man moved aside. Keith didn’t even have time to react before Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all came crashing out of the room and barrelled into him. Somehow Hunk managed to maneuver around Keith to be the one that crashed into the wall. 

“Gyrgan, stop teasing them,” another man chided, before poking his head out and adding “It’d probably be best if you guys brought it inside. We can step out if you’d like some privacy.” 

“What, and miss all the fun?” Gyrgan protested. “No way! I’m not going anywhere, Blaytz!” 

Keith followed his friends into the room and found himself inside a large suite. On a normal day, it probably looked super fancy, but currently, it looked more like what Keith thought a frat house would look like. There was an upended checkerboard, clothes spewing out of duffels against the wall, toilet paper hung haphazardly from the lights, empty cans of soda lying around, and various other little messes. 

“We were about to clean up before you arrived, really,” Hunk assured Keith. Keith wasn’t sure if he believed him though. 

“So. Intros,” Lance said. “These guys were almost your bodyguard team, but luckily for you, we got mixed up in your business first. The big annoying one is Gyrgan, the scrawny annoying one is Trigel, and the cool one who is ever-so-slightly less annoying than the other two is Blaytz.” 

“Aw, you’re my favorite too, Lancey Boy,” Blaytz said, walking past them and messing up Lance’s hair. 

“Some people say we’re like junior versions of them,” Hunk informed Keith. “But other people say it’s an insult to their skills to compare disaster kids like us to adepts like them.” 

“You’re not a disaster kid, Hunk,” Gyrgan said. “The other two though…” 

“Oh please,” Trigel said, rolling her eyes, “Pidge is the only sane one of the bunch. Which is a complete miracle when you look at the influences in her life. Sam, Christie, Matt, those two, and now Shiro? All are chaos, and Pidge is somehow still so virtuous.” 

“What lies are you feeding her, Pidge?” Keith asked. Trigel looked affronted, but everyone else laughed. 

“Excuse you, but I am a perfect angel,” Pidge said, making a halo with her hands and grinning. 

“I’m pretty sure angels don’t stick ‘kick me’ notes to unsuspecting victims,” Keith deadpanned, referencing an incident that had happened during their tour of Sal Trivep’s home. 

“Shiro is an elite bodyguard. He ought to be able to feel when a person sticks something to his shirt. That he didn’t is his own fault,” Pidge replied, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air. 

Keith probably stayed in their suite for an hour. During that time, he handed over the phone he’d been loaned for the trip, got absolutely creamed at checkers by Pidge, ate churros made by Hunk, and lost a wrestling match to Lance. Lance cheated though. Tickling was not fair. Throughout it all, Keith could see that the older bodyguards were genuinely relieved that Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were safe, though they tried to hide it with lots of jokes at the expense of the kids. Keith was glad to see that his friends had people who cared about them. He knew they had families who loved them, but as far as Keith was concerned, his friends deserved the affection of all they met. They were wonderful people, and the world ought to shower them with love to let them know it. 

Eventually, however, Keith couldn’t contain his yawns any longer, and so it was time to go back to his room. His friends walked him there, escorting him as his bodyguards one last time. He didn’t know if he’d see them in the morning, so he hugged them all then, while he was certain he could. Keith didn’t say anything when Pidge slipped a note into his pocket containing all their contact information. He kept his cool when Hunk told him they’d all miss him. And he only let one tear escape him when Lance whispered in his ear that he would always keep Keith in his heart. 

* * *

Aside from Shiro, everyone from Coran’s agency left bright and early the following morning. Keith was glad he’d said goodbye the night before, since he was confined to his room and couldn’t do anything more than watch from his window as they got in their cars. He saw Lance reluctantly hand over the keys to the Beezer to Antok, and then Lance looked up at the hotel one last time. Keith wasn’t sure, but he thought Lance might have seen him watching them. Just in case, Keith offered up a small wave. And then Lance was stooping to get into the car and the door was closing, and then the cars were taking them away, presumably to the airstrip owned by Kolivan’s organization, the Blade. 

Over the next week, Keith got to know some of the Blades pretty well. They were the only people he could talk to after all. He got into the habit of playing “go fish” with Antok, who had the worst poker face ever, of all time, and watching anime with Regris, and playing video games with Kolivan and his mom. Thace and his dad started doing yoga together, and Keith sometimes joined them, even though yoga wasn’t really his thing. 

After a week, the hiding began. They moved every few days, sometimes staying in urban apartments, other times in suburban houses, sometimes they crashed in someone’s basement, and sometimes they ended up out in hicksville. Just when Keith was getting used to the changing scenery, they ended up at a farm out in the middle of nowhere, helping to herd sheep and arguing with goats. Keith came to realize how much he hated chickens on that farm. But the sheepdogs amused him with their antics, and the farm cats were cute. Maybe someday, when they no longer had to worry about the Galra, he’d get a kitten and the two of them could grow old and gray together. 

Shiro joined them on the farm. Sometimes he and Keith’s parents and Thace would all head out, even for days at a time, and Keith would stay behind, helping old man Kaltenacker with the chores until everyone came back. During those lonely times, the old farmer taught him how to whittle. It was a nice distraction, since Keith always got nervous without the others around. 

But no amount of distraction would ever take away the constant ache of missing his friends.


	12. What Happens After Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a short little epilogue.

About a month after they’d returned from Marmora, a letter was delivered to the agency, addressed to Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. After the initial panic that it was some kind of bomb was disproven, it turned out to be a thank-you card signed by the Koganes. Also enclosed were letters for each of them, the first contact they’d had from Keith since saying goodbye. They were all glad to see the letters, since they’d been getting a little worried that something had gone wrong. They were glad to know that Keith was safe, and was thinking about them- almost constantly as he said in their letters. Lance folded his letter and kept it in a photo sleeve, taking it out to reread it during his free moments until he had not only memorized every word, but also the curve of each letter and the way misspelled words had been corrected or crossed out. 

The trial of James Zarkon took the world by storm. It brought chaos to the Galra, who had to deal with people leaving their ranks because their leader had been caught, people joining their ranks because the leader was someone famous, and some of the assassins creating factions to fight for leadership. The various uprisings led to many raids, and more and more of the prominent Galra members were arrested, until those that were left opted to go into hiding. 

Through it all, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were confined to ordinary, dull lives. Pidge finally turned 16 and got her license, and everyone was convinced her infamous blackmailing skills were put to use in order to obtain it on the first try. Or maybe that was just Lance being jealous. Whatever. The three of them got caught up on their studies, and started attending school again at the recently renamed high school. They were all in their senior year (Pidge too despite being younger), and didn’t see much point in attending school for less than a month before graduating, but Coran insisted. After school, they still showed up at the agency like usual, and were put to work filing paperwork and doing janitorial tasks. And then at night, Lance would go home and argue with his mom about his job, and his dad would step in and calm them all down. 

Lance did hear from Rolo and Nyma that they got the car and phones back okay, and the Paladin mysteriously turned up in the garage one night. Lance couldn’t hang out with them because he was supposed to be laying low, but they kept him updated on current events for when he was a free man again. Nyma did insist he had to buy her a strawberry milkshake in thanks someday. 

And so time passed. 

* * *

Lance was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. After almost three months since the Keith incident, things had calmed down enough that the other bodyguards at the agency were back to ribbing him and Hunk and Pidge as usual, and he was not in the best of moods as a result. He spent his days seeking out training rooms that weren’t being used in order to scrub the crap out of the floors to relieve some stress. It was either that or practice his hand-to-hand with Allura, and he would like to stay in one piece. 

“Heya Lancey Boy!” Blaytz called, entering the room and shattering Lance’s nonexistent zone of peace. 

Lance groaned. He liked Blaytz, but he was in a rare unsociable mood. 

“If there’s another toilet backed up, Hunk, Pidge, and I are not the only ones who can unclog it, and if you need the room, you can damn well find another, and if you get any mud on my clean floor-!” Lance snapped irritably, but Blaytz interrupted. 

“Woah, woah, easy there Lancey Boy. I just came to tell you Coran wants to see you. Allura said something about a job for you three.” 

“What? Really?!” Lance said, his voice breaking. Blaytz nodded. 

“Sorry, no time to chat, I’ve got an appointment with Coran!” Lance crowed, shoving his scrub brush at Blaytz as he ran from the room. 

Lance almost ran over three different people on his way to Coran’s office. But it wasn’t his fault that they got in his way during such an important moment. He burst in, noticing that Pidge and Hunk were already present and seated, and that there was a chair prepped and waiting for him. 

“You didn’t have to run, Lance,” Allura scolded. 

“Didn’twannakeepyouwaiting,” Lance said quickly, using one breath since air was precious. He slid into his seat, trying to pant quietly. 

“So. What’s the beef?” Pidge asked, leaning forward. 

“We have a client for you three,” Coran said. “I do think you’ll like this one.” 

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked. 

“You, along with a senior agent who is already on site, will be protecting a client who is an incoming freshman in college,” Allura said, taking over the briefing. “While it is expected that at least one of you be in class with the client at all times, you will also sign up for classes on your own, so that you will be familiar with a broader area of campus.” 

“Wait a second, is this just some elaborate ploy to make us go to college, like how Dr. B. was only our client so we could get counselling?” Pidge asked suspiciously. 

“Actuallyyyyy,” Coran said, “you taking classes as a means to secure more of the campus was the client’s request. He was very insistent on it, in fact.” 

“Anyway,” Allura continued, “Coran has pulled some strings, so the three of you will be allowed a special admittance. Congratulations.” 

“Yeah, really not believing you on this whole ‘it’s not a ploy that you guys set up’ thing,” Lance said. 

“Perhaps if you met the client, you would believe it for yourselves,” Allura said, smirking, and crossed over to the door to the waiting room. She opened it, and gestured for them to go through. They stood and filed through the door, then stopped in their tracks. 

“Uh, hey guys. Miss me?” Keith said with a grin. 

Hunk and Pidge rocketed forward wrapping Keith in two tight hugs. Lance, however, stood slack jawed, staring at Keith in shock. Hunk noticed first, and elbowed Pidge, and the two of them released Keith, who strode forward hesitantly. 

“Did you get my letter?” he asked. 

Lance nodded mutely, mouth still hanging open. 

“I really missed you.” 

Lance nodded again. 

“You should probably close your mouth. There’s drool starting to come out.” 

Lance closed his mouth. 

“Um, Can I-” 

Lance finally remembered how to move and wrapped Keith in his arms. Keith hugged him back for a moment, then gently pushed him back. 

“By the way, you have something on your lips,” Keith said. 

“I do?” 

“Yeah,” Keith said, then leaned forward and kissed the other boy. “That would be me,” he whispered after the kiss ended. 

“You sure about that? Doesn’t seem to be anything there now,” Lance whispered back. 

When they kissed the second time, Hunk moaned loudly that of course Lance would find someone who used lines even worse than his, Pidge said something in a voice squeaky with happiness about a wedding and beautiful babies, Allura rolled her eyes and muttered about unprofessional behavior, and Coran shook his head and laughed about young love. But Keith and Lance didn’t pay any attention to all of that, because they’d known it would happen and had chosen not to care. This was their moment, and they were going to enjoy it before they had to worry about studying, and signing up for classes, and all the other things that would keep them busy from then on. And everyone else let them have it, because like this, with all of them there and together again just felt right. Everything was finally alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I know some of you did since you were kind enough to leave kudos or comments so thanks for that. If you commented and later heard a strange high-pitched keening sound, that was probably the sound of me squealing at you saying nice things/screaming because I have no clue how to respond to such things.   
> Side note: not that anyone cares, but I had a lot of fun coming up with random nicknames for Pidge.


End file.
